Moments In Time
by Wutif
Summary: Sequel to 'A Feeling I Can't Hide'. Blaine and Kurt had returned to 2011 from where Kurt had summoned him in 1876, with the power he'd harnessed from a bolt of lightning. Now Kurt was the one lost out of his time, trying to find his way in Blaine's confusing world, with the help of the boy he loved. Rating now changed to M for violence, homophobia, swearing and sexual situations
1. Chapter 1

A Moment In Time

A/N: This is the sequel to A Feeling I Can't Hide, which you should probably read first. If you prefer not to, the prologue is a quick overview that will give you an idea of the story.

_Blaine and Kurt had returned to 2011 from where Kurt had summoned him in 1876, with the power he'd harnessed from a bolt of lightning. Now Kurt was the one lost out of his own time, trying to find his way in Blaine's confusing world, with the help of the boy he loved._

* * *

**Prologue - A New Beginning**

Kurt woke, tangled in the covers, fighting his way up past an arm wrapped around him, hot and sweaty from having Blaine sleeping all over him. A startled glance around the room recalled the unlikely events of this afternoon. Oh yes, they were here in Blaine's house, a hundred and thirty five years after they had climbed to the top of the hill behind Mercy and Anita's house and been struck by a bolt of lightning, conjured up by…oh my lord, _him_.

The impossible really had happened. He had left his father and everyone else he loved behind, willing to do whatever it took to get Blaine safely home, and now he was here with him in the future_, _ready or not. He would have to learn how to fit in to this bewildering world evolved far beyond anything he had imagined.

Lord, he felt like he was hugging a woodstove in this overheated bedroom, sweltering under the decorator sheets and matching spread, as if it was the middle of winter instead of a mild June day…or maybe it was early evening, by now. It was hard to tell the time with the rain still pattering on the window obscured by coordinated textured side drapes and matching sheers. He thought fleetingly of the plain blue curtains he'd always had in his own bedroom, faming the window looking out over corn fields beyond their yard. Still, having Blaine this close was a comfort, his proximity the only familiar thing around him.

A little more than two weeks ago he'd somehow drawn Blaine back to his own era of 1876, when they'd both been struck by lightning and lived through it. He had no idea at first that Blaine's unexpected appearance was in any way connected to his strange dreams of standing high on a hillside, naked in the wind and rain, his arms raised in a petition for someone to love. The fact that Blaine was another boy, kept him from understanding that his heartfelt plea had actually been answered.

He'd naturally been bewildered at first, when Blaine insisted that he had been transported from the future. He'd assumed Blaine was suffering delusions after barely surviving being hit by lightning. But until he could help him find his way home, the demands of hospitality meant that Blaine would have to share Kurt's bed.

Over the next two weeks, spent entirely in each other's company, Kurt got to know Blaine much better, finding they had an immediate affinity. He'd never had anyone he felt so close to before. Even his best friend Mercy and he couldn't share everything, since they were so different. He learned a lot about himself too, like why he felt so different from every other boy in the small rural town of Lima, Ohio. That it wasn't _just_ because he appreciated the finer things in life, that most of the other boys didn't care about.

Blaine was funny and sweet, and casually admitted he was attracted to Kurt, like it shouldn't really matter much. He was careful not to trespass any of his personal boundaries, and treated being homosexual as if it was just normal. Kurt gradually recognized that he was attracted to Blaine too, realizing he had subconsciously suppressed any sexual feelings at _all_ before then, preferring to not feel anything, than risk disappointing his beloved widowed father in any way.

He and Blaine had gradually shared their feelings, talking quietly in the dark, in his bed at night. The nameless yearning inside him grew stronger every day, until Kurt finally worked up enough courage to kiss Blaine. His heart had nearly exploded inside him with the revelation that _this_ was what he needed to continue breathing, to live each day with joy and wonder with Blaine, instead of merely existing in a grey world that he didn't fit into. Despite their efforts, their growing attraction to each other was soon apparent to everyone who knew them.

It frightened Kurt that Blaine kept forgetting how dangerous this time was for people like them. If their relationship was discovered it could be fatal, in a small rural community that already mocked Kurt simply because he was interested in music, wore nice clothes and had fine manners. They would do far worse to them if they decided they were one of those damned souls who preferred those of their own sex, thinking they were better off dead, than sinning. But with every day that passed, the growing love they shared was becoming more and more difficult to hide.

Anita Jones, the Hummel's housekeeper and Kurt's proxy mother for the last ten years, had once been a slave. She dabbled in herbal cures and medicines, but she had inherited something more than her family's long tradition of healing. She had also inherited a fifth sense held by some of the women in her family, an ability to perceive disturbances in people,though she mostly used it to decide how to best treat them. It was what told her how badly Kurt needed her when she had first come to work for his father, but she never once guessed how much power he could control himself, drawn from nature's wind and rain, culminating in a million volt blast of lightning, more powerful than anything else known to man.

Kurt begged Anita for help to send Blaine back where he would be safe again, so she was the one who had sent out a plea for assistance to the alliance of those that dealt in things beyond the realm of science. Until they knew for sure if they could get Blaine back home, she also made them promise to not follow through on their attraction. She didn't want Kurt left broken hearted if Blaine went home again.

Then someone had answered her call. The Cajun spiritualist who arrived on an Ohio riverboat, had been little more than a paltry illusionist, but he'd known enough to guess that Kurt was the one who had brought Blaine there, and the only one who might be able to return him home. He also declared that since the time Kurt had accidentally called Blaine back to his time, they'd grown too strong a link to each other to risk Blaine's return alone. Their only hope was for Kurt to go _with_ Blaine, to a time where the danger of being discovered as homosexual wasn't so deadly. They'd all stood on a hillside and watched Kurt conjure up another storm, until a strike from the roiling clouds transported them back to 2011.

Now it was Blaine's turn to take care of Kurt, starting with giving him a place to rest after regaining consciousness in the pouring rain, drained and too weak to stand. He'd wakened some distance away from the lawn of a heritage home in Lima they had both focused on returning to. Kurt had overlooked that he'd never been close to Harkness House, so his mental image of the house was farther away than Blaine's.

A nearby teenaged girl had seen Kurt weakly struggling to regain his feet in the rain, and kindly came to his rescue. He'd gotten a further jolt, when he looked up at her face. Mercedes looked so eerily like Mercy, with her warm heart shining in her kind brown eyes, that he had felt comforted by her immediately. She found Blaine for him, the panicking boy desperately searching for his boyfriend a short distance away, and led him back to be reunited with Kurt.

Mercedes watched Blaine clutch Kurt to his chest, both of them sagging to the ground with relief. In spite of her disappointment at her realization they were gay, she offered to drive them both to Blaine's house, and even helped him take Kurt inside, but they weren't in the clear yet. Blaine's mother was rather surprised to meet the three damp teens in her front hall, when Blaine had just left home an hour or two before to see a movie with friends. Blaine explained that Kurt had fainted and there was no one at home to look after him, with his mother long dead and his father…out of reach.

She had no reason to suspect Blaine of hiding anything. She only wanted to comfort the wan-looking boy her son had brought home with him, with her hand drawn to his soft damp hair, after he was settled in their guest room. She made sure Kurt changed into some of Blaine's warm dry clothes, dispensed some Advil for his headache, then dispatched Blaine and his friend downstairs to make him something warm to eat while she tucked him into her guest bed. Kurt insisted that he just needed some sleep, so she felt confident enough to leave for her weekly bridge game, after cautioning Blaine to call her if his friend seemed worse. When Blaine and Mercedes went back upstairs with some warm soup, they found Kurt already sunk in a deep sleep, his exhausted body no longer able to cope.

Mercedes curiosity was aroused. It was obvious Blaine's mother had never even met his boyfriend before today. True, Kurt was pretty new in town, or she would have already heard about him somewhere already, but then how did they even meet? It was easy to tell that those two were nuts about each other, which was too bad, because when she'd first found him, Kurt had given her such an intense stare, she'd thought he might have been into her too.

But oh my God, Mercedes had watched a movie a couple weeks ago that just broke her heart about a gay kid who committed suicide after he'd been left abandoned by his friends and family, and been bullied beyond bearing. She'd cried her eyes out and pledged to herself that would _never_ happen to anyone she knew, so she was going to support them, to help them come out to Blaine's parents, if they didn't know he had a boyfriend. She made sure to exchange her number with Blaine's, to follow up with them very soon. Sneaking around behind your parents' back was no way to handle it, even if they might have a good reason. Maybe she could get her friends to help her see them through this; Rachel kept bragging she had two dads, didn't she?

Once Blaine saw their new friend and rescuing angel Mercedes out, he set his alarm to wake him in an hour or two, and then gratefully climbed into bed to hold his boyfriend safe in his arms, exhausted from a long day and an even more memorable night.

The the evening before their return, they had been told to make love by the Cajun spiritualist who was trying to get Blaine back home. The man had believed that having them linked as closely as possible, before they attempted the transfer, would increase their chances of arriving together. On the other hand, if this attempt at time travel didn't work, it might very well be their last night alive, so he intended they should have a last chance to enjoy it.

He had drugged them both into discarding their inhibitions, to get them past their first-time nerves. The drug quickly wore off, but by then they'd left their virginity behind, and they had spent the rest of the night shyly learning how to pleasure each other. Blaine was so grateful he was able to share his first experience with sex with the boy he loved. Kurt had put all his trust in Blaine, his heart, his body and his future were his now.

The next day, to everyone's surprise, he and Blaine actually did travel to the future, with the help of a bolt of lightning. Okay, to be honest, Kurt knew he would have had to leave his home town of Lima and move to a bigger city to find …others, like himself. He would have needed to learn how to live in a whole different world there too, when he eventually figured out what meeting Blaine had made clear to him within days.

Blaine assured him that where he came from, being homosexual…gay, wasn't the threat of a death sentence it was in Kurt's time. Love shared between two people of the same sex was acknowledged as their right by law, accepted in the major cities, with even marriage an option in many states. True, they still suffered from bullying and bigotry, but they were headed toward complete equality someday.

Kurt had been reborn in a new century, and this was the first day of the rest of his life. He would have to learn almost a whole new language, and decipher the baffling way things worked here, but he still had his agile brain, he could adapt. There was a lot to learn, but he would manage, because he had Blaine to help him. He could hardly believe that it had been less than twelve hours since they had woken in each other's arms in Anita's bed, back when he had lived a boring life in a small rural town.

He relaxed again instinctively when he inhaled Blaine's familiar scent from his warm body wrapped around him, and felt him breathing against him. His exhaustion dragged him back under within a few minutes, feeling safe and content with Blaine in the here and now. They could deal with living in the future later.

**Chapter 1**

Blaine woke an hour later, grateful to find he was still in his own house, and not in some dream that had faded away back to the Ohio of the past. Kurt had gotten him back home again, and best of all, he was right here beside him. He stretched his cramped body, peeling his sweaty arm off of Kurt, who sleepily blinked himself awake too. He smiled slowly at Blaine and softly whispered "hi", as he leaned his forehead against Blaine's.

Blaine tugged him closer and answered with a nuzzled touch of his nose beside Kurt's, his arm tightening around his waist. "Hi, honey. I couldn't help climbing into bed with you. You looked so warm and inviting, and I was so wiped out too. God, I am so incredibly relieved we made it back here together, Kurt. I promise I'll do my best to look after you. Are you feeling a little better now?"

Kurt nodded, his hand squeezing Blaine's shoulder, cozy in their warm nest under the covers. "Yes, I feel much better. The headache is still there, but I don't feel nearly so weak anymore. It was very nice to wake up and find you here. Is your mother really all right with us…like this?" Kurt couldn't believe times had changed so much, to where one's parents would accept their sons sleeping in the same bed as their lovers, and with another boy, no less.

Blaine scrunched up his nose, and shook his head regretfully. "Nah. I bet she'd freak out if she saw us in bed together like this, but she went out and she's not due back for a couple more hours. How about we clean up a bit before my dad gets home in an hour or so? Come on, I have a surprise to show you." Blaine's eyes twinkled as he smiled, delighted to show Kurt some of the advantages of living in an age of convenience. He flipped back the covers of his bed and stood up, with his hand extended to Kurt. Kurt took his hand trustingly. He was going to have to learn how to get by here, so he might as well start now.

As Kurt clambered over the bed to join Blaine, he noticed a hickey peeking from the neck of his t-shirt that recalled some of the passion they'd shared, only the night before. He found it nearly impossible to believe _he'd_ done that to Blaine, and thoroughly enjoyed making love with him, both giving and receiving. His enthusiasm in making Blaine explode over and over confirmed beyond any lingering doubt that he was gay. But last night felt like it was only a dream now, an improbable over-heated dream that happened ages ago. It _was_ ages ago, even if it was only last night. Was that why it didn't feel like it had been him?

And now, the tables had turned. Now Kurt was in Blaine's natural environment, totally dependent on him to keep him from panicking at how strange everything was. Blaine saw his boyfriend colour with a blush and hesitate, when he stared at him, and realized he would have to back off again, and let Kurt get acclimated, before he could expect him to be comfortable with his newly discovered sexual orientation.

It had taken Blaine a couple of years to get comfortable with the idea of being gay ('comfortable with' was probably overstating it; it was more like accepting something that many people considered a major defect. Now Blaine was convinced being gay was just another version of normal, like his crazy hair) Kurt was still pretty new to the idea so it wasn't surprisingly, considering when he was born, that he had sort of Victorian ideas about sex in general. He intended to give him time to adjust, even if it killed him. He loved Kurt too much to push him if he wasn't comfortable with getting physical.

It wouldn't be easy to behave as if he had no idea what it would be like to be with him, because the night he'd spent making love with Kurt had been more amazing than any other experience in his short life. He didn't know enough adjectives to describe how exquisite his boyfriend was. But for now, Blaine was going to settle for showing Kurt all the wonderful things that made this era worth the risk of leaving everything he knew, to bring him here with him.

And he was starting Kurt's education with the sybaritic joys of nearly endless hot water in his bathroom. Bathing in Kurt's time meant the whole morning's work for both of them to have a bath, hauling out the metal tub from the shed in the back and putting it in the kitchen, bringing in the water from the pump and building the fire to heat it, pouring it into the tub and then dipping it out again to clean up afterward. Kurt humoured Blaine when he wanted a bath every other day, but he was aware that was far more often than most people bathed. He just _knew_ Kurt was going to love his bathroom.

Blaine excitedly led him to his ensuite bathroom and swung open the door to show him the room, wondering what he would think. It wasn't like a spa or anything, but it was still pretty nice, with narrow strips of charcoal tiles to about five feet from the light grey floor and a pale robin's egg blue on the walls above that. His aqua and grey towels were thick and fluffy, and big enough to nearly cover him from head to toe. He didn't have a bathtub, but the slate tiled shower had glass doors with a geometric pattern etched into the glass _and_ it was big enough for two to share. Kurt stood in the doorway and stared at all the shiny surfaces and gleaming tile, trying to deduce the purpose of each of the fixtures.

Blaine started the shower and then rummaged in the vanity for a new toothbrush for Kurt while he stood with his fingers outstretched to feel the warm water raining down, mesmerized at the water endlessly pouring down in the shower, quickly steaming up the room. Blaine started the vent fan, so they didn't fog up too badly and then without warning, dropped his shorts, startling Kurt again. Blaine could tell from his sudden blush and averted eyes that Kurt had regained some of his shyness, even though they had very thoroughly explored each other the night before. Blaine smiled at him encouragingly. "Come on, Kurt. You won't believe how great this shower feels." He fine-tuned the water temperature and stepped in, leaning out encouragingly to beckon his boyfriend, with a hopeful quirk of his mouth.

Kurt braced himself with a deep inhalation, then a self-consciously took off his flannel sleep pants and T-shirt, ignoring the blush colouring his face and his shoulders. His reluctance to disrobe was silly after he and Blaine had already seen each other naked, but he couldn't help himself, after a lifetime of modesty. He folded his clothes carefully, then cautiously stepped in beside Blaine, standing with his body faced toward the spray, and put his hands into the rainfall of warm water to cup it in wonder.

Blaine grinned happily, pleased at his boyfriend's delight. "God Kurt, you'll soon see why I missed my shower so much. I'm going to wash my hair first and then I'll wash yours, okay?" Blaine poured a dab of the amazing Avis smoothing shampoo his mother paid fifty dollars for, onto his hand. The stuff did wonders for his curls, reducing the frizz and fluff to a manageable level.

He closed his eyes as he worked up some lather, relaxing as he worked his fingers into his scalp. Man, this felt absolutely incredible after two weeks without a decent soak. He stepped under the water to rinse and cleared the water from his eyes. He opened them to see Kurt staring at him, his eyes narrowed at Blaine's groans of enjoyment.

Blaine gently massaged some shampoo into Kurt's hair next and watched him close his eyes in relaxed pleasure. He seemed to really quite like having Blaine massage his hair, though he noticed he kept his body turned away from him. Getting it out of Kurt's hair again was unexpectedly difficult, because he didn't like the water getting on his face, spluttering and gasping like he was going to drown. He finally inhaled a huge breath of air and puffed out his cheeks as if he was going underwater and then stood under the spray, while Blaine chuckled at him in amusement as he smoothed his hair back for him.

Then Blaine gently scrubbed his body with his body wash, before he did Kurt's, with his eyes closed in pleasure as Blaine rubbed his skin. Watching his boyfriend luxuriate in the scents and sensations was exactly the reaction he had hoped for, his expression reminding him of other pleasurable sensations they'd shared.

Blaine knew Kurt needed some space for a while, but not coming on to him when he was all sweet-smelling, rosy and soft in the shower was much more difficult than he had foreseen. He forced himself leave the shower first to grab a towel to pass to Kurt, trying not to obviously ogle him as he dried his lean lithe body. He tried very hard not to think of all the things he wanted to do with Kurt, guessing from his own time travel experience how strange everything must feel for him.

Kurt sent him a grateful smile at his restraint and felt his heart swell because his boyfriend understood his hesitation. Everything was so…strange. Their eyes connected and they shared a moment of understanding. For a few seconds, Kurt forgot they were naked together, and just remembered how much Blaine loved him. He tried to relax, and trust Blaine and follow his example.

When they were dry, Blaine squirted a line of toothpaste on his toothbrush, and told him to brush while he shaved, then had to stop Kurt from sucking the minty fresh gel toothpaste off the brush again. Kurt absently scrubbed his teeth, fascinated as he watched Blaine spread the shave gel on his face, preparing to shave with his four-bladed razor. Kurt made Blaine emit an embarrassingly girlish giggle when he darted in to draw a curly moustache in the lather, before he scraped it all off to reveal his soft smooth face.

He offered his cheek to Kurt to feel how smooth it was and they sort of just stared at each other for a bit, distracted by their closeness, with one of Kurt's hands gently cupped on his cheek, with his thumb drifting across his lips. They both remembered doing the same thing when Mercy had shaved Blaine in Kurt's kitchen the first time, the attraction between them even stronger now. Blaine backed off first, turning away to pat on his soothing aftershave, before he got himself into trouble, while Kurt turned away to focus on styling his hair in the mirror, with another blush on his cheeks. He could read what Blaine would like to do in his eyes, and he…was very grateful that Blaine understood his uncertainty.

Blaine offered to share some of his skin moisturizer with Kurt afterward, then watched him spread it over most of his body with fascination, before Kurt noticed that Blaine had just done his face and neck. Blaine leaned in for a quick kiss and whispered that he was welcome to soften and smooth his body as much as he wanted. Kurt gave him a shy smile, but he put the bottle back, feeling awkward.

He was about to don his flannel pants again when Blaine told him not to bother. Kurt's eyes flashed to him nervously… until Blaine added that they were about to explore his closet for something to wear. Blaine was very glad that he hadn't given in to temptation, when he saw Kurt's relief. Kurt wrapped his towel around his waist the same way Blaine had, quickly learning the trick of how to secure it.

"How in the world can you even _wear_ all of this, Blaine? I bet you have more clothes in your closet than my father's store sells in a couple of months!" Kurt was fingering all the shirts and checking out the pants folded over hangers, with as much stunned delight as if he had died and gone to heaven. He pulled out a plain white shirt and a pair of black pants and held them up against himself in the full length mirror hung on the back of the closet door, with his eyes shining eagerly.

Blaine watched him fondly, incredibly pleased to see Kurt dive into his closet with such abandon. They weren't surprised to see that most of Blaine's pants were too short for Kurt, but he found a couple that he usually rolled up into cuffs that would do for Kurt's long lean legs.

"Kurt, all those beautiful colours and you pick black and white? Branch out a little, babe! You would look fantastic in green or blue, or this pink or maybe this mustard colour. Try them on, so I can see." Blaine pulled out a bunch of hangers in each hand, pleased beyond belief to dress his boyfriend in his own clothes. Kurt happily took the hangers out of his hand.

Blaine put on a pair of black boxers, before he tossed a pair at Kurt, chuckling when they landed on his shoulder, then ducked when Kurt threw them back at him. Once Blaine returned them again more politely and said they were his to wear, he watched him slip on the smooth stretchy fabric. Oh my god, Blaine couldn't help admiring how they clung to Kurt's body. He rolled his eyes at him and whistled, and let the fact that he was tempted to tackle Kurt onto his bed and kiss the hell out of him show on his face.

Kurt blushed, but turned away from him a bit to pull on a pair of pants, plainly not interested in fooling around. Okay, I get it, hon. Blaine sighed understandingly, deciding to let Kurt decide when they got together again like that. He didn't want to come off like acting like a perv that didn't love him. "Kurt, I can still tell you when you look amazing, can't I?" Kurt's shy smile was his reward, as he nodded gratefully and relaxed again.

Half an hour later, Kurt had decided zippers were the best invention_ ever!_ The bed was covered with heaps of all the clothes he had tried on, but he ended up wearing the white shirt and black pants, with a plain black vest added on top. He explained to an exasperated Blaine that he would need to work his way up to brightly coloured short sleeves and clingy fabrics, after wearing sober colours and cotton for all of his life. Blaine agreed gracefully, since those black skinnys he was wearing were doing some awesomely fierce things for Kurt's ass, even if he'd covered everything else up. Those pants fit well on Blaine if he folded the cuffs up a bit, but since Kurt was just a smidgen bigger, they were snugged up to his body, like a warm hug. Hmmmhmm. He politely told Kurt he looked very, very nice and saw his face pink with pleasure this time.

They were in the kitchen, with Kurt innocently sitting on a kitchen stool at the breakfast counter, while Blaine fixed them a couple of microwaved burritos, when his father came home from work, entering the rear of the home from the garage. "Oh, hello, Blaine. How was your day?"

He asked his son the question perfunctorily, without waiting for the perfunctory answer, as he set down his keys and picked up his briefcase again, about to leave the room. At the last moment he noticed the boy with his son was someone he'd never seen around there before. Blaine usually had friends…plural, with him, not _a _friend, singular. Hmmm. Could this be a new development on the 'gay' announcement he'd made a couple months ago?

"My day was fine, Dad." Blaine answered him briefly, and hoped his father would go to his office and leave them alone, but just like his mother, his father took an interest in his new friend.

"Hello. I don't believe we've met?" He glanced at Blaine and waited expectantly for the introduction. Blaine glanced at Kurt, braced himself and dove in head first.

"Dad, um, this is my boyfriend … Kurt Hummel. Kurt, this is Edward Anderson, my father." Blaine put an arm around Kurt's shoulder, to show his father that he wasn't going to pretend Kurt was just his buddy. Kurt froze up, his eyes gone wide with dread and his body tensed, then glanced at Blaine with alarm shouted from every frozen muscle. His eyes were clearly accusing him "why would you _say_ that, the first time we meet?" Blaine's father's smile dropped off his face for a second, then reappeared looking like a pale ghost of itself.

"Oh. I…see. Well, um …it's very nice to meet you, Kurt." Ed's voice sounded too polite to be genuine. He leaned over the counter to shake hands, mostly by habit from the office, doing his best to try to sound sincere and welcoming, even if he was cringing inside. He'd known the day was fast approaching when his son would bring home a boyfriend, but he was caught off guard anyway, with no prior warning at all that Blaine had met anyone special.

He'd told himself he was going to take Blaine's orientation all in stride when he'd made that life changing announcement few months ago. God, he didn't consider himself a homophobe, but man, meeting Blaine's boyfriend was tougher to do than he'd thought. The boy wasn't at all what he was expecting though. He'd assumed his undersized, sensitive, curly headed entertainer son would come home with some big hairy biker dude or something, instead of this pale delicate-looking boy.

Kurt was nearly as small as Blaine, and was almost as pretty as a girl. Huh. Maybe his kid wasn't as prissy as he'd thought. Then he'd been shocked to feel a firm callused grip instead of a limp damp one, when they shook hands, so at least this boy seemed to have done more than sing and dance around, like Blaine did. Ed made his apologies and then quickly escaped, too uncomfortable to make polite conversation. He was confused about whether his son was supposed to be the girl in this relationship or if his new …god, it felt so weird to say this, his son's boyfriend was.

Kurt and Blaine looked at each other, both of them wishing Blaine's father was more like Kurt's, but neither voiced the thought. They ate their snack, with Kurt first suspiciously investigating the contents of his burrito. Blaine told him to close his eyes and just eat it, because it tasted a lot better than it looked. Kurt quirked a smile to him, closed his eyes to bite off a hunk and chewed gamely. It filled his hollow stomach, though he would never have chosen to eat something that looked like _that_. He imagined this was only the first of many new culinary experiences.

When they were done eating, Blaine deposited their dirty dishes into a box under the counter, apparently placed there for the purpose. While he tidied and poured them some milk, Kurt explored the huge array of cupboards curiously, trying to divine the purpose of what he found. The Anderson home seemed well enough equipped to serve as a hotel, instead of catering to just three people. He saw several mysterious shiny metal and black objects with black cords hanging out of them in a cabinet, whose function he was puzzled by though one of them must be used for a beverage since it had a glass pot with a handle inserted in it.

The array of food in the cabinets was astounding, all of it packaged with bright informative pictures, though most of it seemed to be puffed, or low-salt, or fat reduced. Surely that must affect the flavour? The big ice box was another education. Even the raw vegetables were prepackaged and preportioned in soft clear packaging and, oh my gosh, how many bottles of sauce did one family need? There were at least ten bottles of something labelled salad dressing, but confusingly no cream to make dressing with. There were three kinds of marinades, smooth red stuff called tomato ketchup which was disturbingly brighter red than any tomato he'd ever seen and looked nothing like the delicious spiced tomato catsup Anita made every summer. There was another red sauce called salsa that appeared to have chunks of actual vegetables in it, labelled 'hot', though it was definitely cold to the touch. There were bottles of brown sauce, black sauce, green sauce; an endless array of sauces, probably to disguise the sterile flavour of the packaged food.

He saw a container of vanilla mocha flavoured coffee whitener, which again made no mention of any actual cream in it, and another box of something called soy milk. What in heaven's name might that be? Did they have 'new and improved' kinds of cows too? Maybe they didn't even have cows here, since everything seemed to have been paved over and built upon, with no grass in sight, except for an artificial looking carpet of intense green in front of each house on the street.

The other side of the fridge was even more mystifying, stacked with box upon box of frost whitened packages, most of them appearing to be prepared foods in colourful packages. How did they produce the wintery cold in there? Kurt closed the door, overwhelmed with questions, knowing the explanation of how things worked here was too much to absorb all at once.

He noticed Blaine flip a switch over the sink while he washed his hands and watched light flood the area from a bright white point. He hadn't noticed until now that the light followed them everywhere, without reference to the sun or lamplight. Those buttons beside every doorway appeared to control the lighting. Surely such bright light would produce heat and burn the house down? He looked around, seeing light fixtures everywhere, so apparently they had figured that problem out. Kurt sighed to himself, feeling incredibly out of his element. He'd had no idea how entirely different Blaine's time was, beyond the social differences. No wonder Blaine had seemed aghast to discover he had jumped more than a century back in time.

They heard a distant rumbling again, which Kurt assumed was another thunder storm, but the rising garage door signaled to Blaine that his mother was home again. He glanced at Kurt nervously, apparently more worried about his mother's reaction than his father's to having his boyfriend suddenly appear in his home. Kurt decided to keep silent when she entered the house, before he betrayed his vast ignorance, unless propriety demanded he speak. He'd never have guessed that Blaine's parents would be the cause of this much anxiety in his boyfriend, since his own father had only ever made him feel safe and loved.

Blaine's mother smiled at Kurt in the kitchen, correctly assuming he was feeling better. He saw her glance that noted he was wearing Blaine's clothes, probably because his were still soaked. "I'm glad you're feeling better dear, but you still look rather pale. Would you like to stay here tonight? I'm reluctant to have you spend the night alone, when you've been ill. Have you fainted before?"

"No, I'm usually quite healthy. Thank you, ma'am. I'm sorry to be such a bother to you. It seems all the Andersons are very kind, and gracious." Kurt shared a shy smile, charming Mrs. Anderson. She wondered how Blaine had met this boy, since she didn't recall him ever mentioning Kurt before. Something about the way her son hovered close to him made her wonder how well Blaine knew him. Kurt was not the most masculine of boys, she hadn't failed to notice, and seemed far more quietly composed and mature than Blaine's usual crowd of raucous school friends.

She fought off the urge to keep them under her watchful eye. If they were…well, interested in each other that way, she wanted Blaine to feel she accepted his orientation, even if it was difficult for her at first. She wanted to stay involved in Blaine's life, so that was what she had to do. She leaned against the counter top, trying to look relaxed and made polite conversation.

"You're not a bother at all, Kurt. Are you a Dalton boy too, or where did you two meet?" The slight pause, and the conferring glance from both boys after the question meant the answer wasn't as simple as it should be. Hmm.

Blaine stuttered out an explanation of sorts, looking all sorts of uncomfortable. Why should their meeting be something to be nervous about?

"Um. No...we… um, Kurt just moved to Lima recently. We met when we both got caught in the rain and … we sort of clicked immediately."

They quickly smiled at each other with the sort of soft smile she'd never seen Blaine give a friend before, confirming her hunch that there was something going on between them.

"Kurt was feeling really crappy, so we came back here instead of going to the movie with Jeff and Nick."

She could see that Blaine was hovering over Kurt protectively. She suddenly realized a boyfriend would one day permanently take her son away from her, just as all children eventually left their parents. She had always wanted more children but Blaine was the only pregnancy she managed to carry to term. Her stepson, Cooper had long been grown up and gone, eight years older than Blaine. She'd hoped that she could keep Blaine to herself longer before he found someone to love.

Both boys noticed her sudden discomfort, but weren't sure what to do about it. "We just had a snack mom, so we're going back upstairs now. I told the guys we would meet them for dinner, so we won't be here for supper. Can I take the car, so we don't get soaked in the rain?" Blaine smiled his most winning smile, hoping his mother had forgotten he was supposed to be suspended from using it. His heart leapt when she immediately nodded yes, but he was a little premature in his celebration.

"Oh, wait! I'm sorry. You'll have to check with your father for permission to use the car. Perhaps your friends could pick you up instead." She smiled apologetically at them, relieved they weren't planning to spend the evening alone in Blaine's room. Entertaining a boy alone in his room was something she would have to think about. How would she ever know for sure that they were boyfriends, if Blaine didn't tell her?

Blaine's father predictably kyboshed him taking the car, repressively telling Blaine that just because it was raining out didn't mean his punishment had changed. Blaine had to call Nick and ask him to come pick them up instead. Nick said it was no problem, and he would be there in a few minutes. Blaine let Kurt pick out a jacket from among the six or seven in the front hall closet and was pleased to see he picked out the blue one that would set off his eyes, the one Blaine would have picked out for him himself. He leaned to whisper how nice it looked on him and was rewarded with another shy blush. If he didn't already know how confident Kurt had been during their night of passion, he might have assumed that sweet shy boy was all there was. As it was, he found his shyness cute as hell.

Kurt was suddenly startled half out of his wits when Blaine suddenly bellowed to no one in particular. "Nick's here. See ya later, guys." He took Kurt's hand and quickly towed him out to where a sleek black vehicle waited. Kurt thought the vehicle looked like a stallion, compared to the workhorse vehicle that Mercedes had driven. Nick was driving his mother's new Audi sedan, while Mercedes had been driving an elderly beige Toyota Highlander SUV. Blaine sckooched over on the back seat to make room for Kurt, and solicitously showed him how to work the restraining system to hold him in place. Now that Kurt thought about it, it seemed somewhat ominous, if such a thing was necessary for one's safety. He thought all these 'cars' went much too fast. How did everyone know how to avoid each other at those insane speeds?

The two boys in the front seat said a polite hello to Kurt when Blaine introduced Kurt to them as his new boyfriend. Kurt noted neither boy seemed to resent his intrusion into their group, as they exchanged cordial hellos. He could feel himself relax a bit, when they began to talk nonchalantly about where to eat. It seemed most of their favourite options were eliminated when Blaine said he wanted to stay in the car so they could talk privately. Jeff glanced at Nick, wondering what that meant, then glanced at the boy Blaine seemed to have suddenly found somewhere, warily listening to them talk. He seemed awfully shy compared to Blaine's outgoing friendly vibe, and he wondered where he'd met him. He looked sort of pale to Jeff, but hey, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and he definitely wasn't gay, or else he would have jumped his best friend Nick ages ago. It sucked so much that he couldn't find a girl he liked as much as he liked hanging out with Nick and Blaine. It suddenly occurred to him that Blaine was lucky he didn't need to worry about that.

They pulled into a Wendy's drive through, perusing the menu board briefly, before Nick pulled up to some nondescript shrubbery with a large colourful sign in the centre. Kurt was looking around curiously at the establishment they had chosen. Were they going to follow this laneway to a doorway? Nick and Jeff inexplicably announced their choices to the sign, and then Blaine leaned into the front seat to state his order. He glanced briefly back to Kurt and, without consulting him, told the sign he wanted a grilled chicken sandwich with fries and a Coke, going completely on instinct.

In all the time Blaine had eaten with the Hummels, Kurt had seldom eaten a slab of meat, usually preferring soups or stews instead. Kurt was grateful to not to have to decipher the menu, with its pictures of extremely similar circular puffs of bread rolls with meat between the layers. Just the fact that there was a place that gave you food to eat in your vehicle, after you spoke to someone hidden in the shrubs was still boggling his mind, another inexplicable discovery here in the future.

They snaked behind other cars in a procession up to a window on the side of the building. Nick passed over the cash they each contributed and in return received a bag emitting intriguing smells and a tray holding four huge waxed cups from a girl who served customers from a window. He passed the tray to Jeff, who put two of the drinks in the front seat's cup holders before he passed back the tray to Blaine. Nick excavated in the bag to remove some of the contents, then passed it back to them.

Nick pulled the vehicle into a parking spot near the back of the lot and turned the engine off, though the music continued to play in the background, Kurt suddenly noticed. Where was it coming from? It seemed to be surrounding them? His curious staring around the car was interrupted by Blaine passing him a warm bundle wrapped in foil. He watched him set a bundle of what looked like square pencils in the empty slot of the cup holder. Then he unwrapped a couple of tubular white sticks to put in their drinks, before he unwrapped his own sandwich to take a hearty bite, dripping colourful sauces into the foil on his lap, and groaned in enjoyment. He rolled his eyes with pleasure, then nodded his chin to Kurt, encouraging him to try his.

Kurt carefully opened the wrapper on his steaming hot bundle curiously to examine it. Inside he found what unmistakably seemed to be a chicken breast, with a white sauce of some sort, a slice of tomato and some finely shredded lettuce between two soft circular pieces of bread roll. He took a tentative bite, astounded by the flavours deliciously melding in his mouth. "Mnnn" he moaned in answer to Blaine's inquiring glance, making him grin. Blaine offered Kurt a bite of his burger to taste, oozing with all sorts of brightly coloured sauces and piled high with bacon and cheese and vegetables. Kurt shook his head, inexplicably delighted that his boyfriend knew him well enough to know he would prefer something plainer than that…ugh, dripping messy concoction.

Kurt chewed his sandwich absently, noting the other cars holding people also partaking of their evening meal in their vehicles. He could see that inside the garishly lit establishment, small tables also held groups of people eating. The sound of chewing and the slurp of icy drinks was all the sound there was for a while. Kurt tried the drink, finding it icy cold but muchsweeter than he would prefer. A plain glass of water would have been more refreshing.

Within moments Jeff balled the empty wrapper of his sandwich up and accurately tossed it over the seat into the bag that sat gaping open on the floor, when Kurt was only a couple of bites into his meal, then picked up his carton of golden twigs and popped one into his mouth, chewing twice before he swallowed it.

"So what's the mystery Blaine? Are you going to tell us where you met Kurt? It's no big deal to us, if you have a boyfriend now, unless you're going to dump us. You gotta share Blaine with us, Kurt. We had him first." Jeff said to him teasingly. Nick nodded his emphatic agreement, though his mouth was still full of burger, keeping him from talking.

Blaine swallowed his last bite of sandwich and answered as he crumpled the wrapper in the same ritual Jeff had observed. "Yeah. I'll tell you how we met, but first you have to promise to keep it on the down-low. If it gets out I don't know what would happen to us… well, to Kurt. Do I have your pinky pledge?" Blaine held up a hand with his little finger extended toward them, making Kurt stare at him. Was he truly serious? Surely, this must be less childish than it seemed.

Asking for the Warbler pledge simply meant this was serious stuff, and not to be treated lightly, so both boys understood when they hooked their finger to Blaine's that he had more to tell them than the fact that he had a boyfriend. Blaine glanced at Kurt, then quickly told them the story of what had happened while he'd been out walking earlier that day, though it had been more than two weeks for them, since the blast from the heavens that had sent him hurtling to Kurt.

After the first few minutes, they suspected that Blaine was pulling their leg. Seriously, dude? Time travel? Getting hit by lightning _twice_ and not only living through it, but travelling through time with it? Nick and Jeff glanced at each other and waited for the punch line they figured was coming …but he held their eyes in all seriousness and it never did. Blaine went on to explain how it felt to come back, surviving what felt like having all their atoms disassembled and reassembled elsewhere.

"So Kurt is here now, without a family or any place to stay, entirely because he loves me. _Everything_ is new and confusing for him. At least I had some idea of what to expect back then from watching movies, and going to museums and stuff. Imagine what you would feel like if you went that far into the future and everything was just so different. I'm hoping I can count on your help to get him settled in here. My mother and father are going to lose their minds if he stays at our house longer than tonight. I already came clean and told them we're together, since we have a lousy track record at hiding how we feel about each other. I figure it's better that way, than them thinking I'm trying to hide it."

Nick and Jeff glanced at each other. Blaine really seemed to be serious, though they both sort of still expected a joking admission that it was all a convoluted hoax. But they were Dalton brothers, so of course whatever Blaine asked of them, they would help him with. Jeff shrugged and said. "Hey, you know that we're there for you, man, no matter what. Right? Kurt, you can come over to my house tomorrow, if you need a place to hang out. I don't think my parents would care if we had 'a sleepover party, and maybe tomorrow night you can stay at Nick's." Jeff seemed far more comfortable than Kurt was, with the idea of him being his houseguest.

Was Blaine going to leave him at a complete stranger's house? Kurt murmured his thanks politely, but he was unable to keep from hoping that Blaine would be there too. He was feeling very much out of his comfort zone.

"Thanks guys. I really appreciate it." Blaine smiled at Kurt, feeling this was going to work out, with the support of his best friends. He could tell that Kurt was feeling uncomfortable, but once he got to know Nick and Jeff better he was sure they would all be good friends. At least if Kurt had somewhere else to stay he might be able to delay the inevitable fall out from his parents, when he asked if his boyfriend could stay over.

Kurt sternly told himself he was _not _a child. He should not need Blaine to protect him from his friends. They seemed perfectly decent young men, convivial and pleasant even though Blaine had told them they were boyfriends. He had always faced difficult situations head on, standing up straight and courageous. He knew he was quite able to stand alone…but, he would just far _prefer_ to stand with Blaine at his side.

Nick smiled Kurt reassuringly. "Kurt, do you want to go to my house for a while and we'll figure some things out? You're going to need some ID and things, and maybe some of my stuff will fit you better than most of Blaine's stuff. I imagine you weren't able to bring much with you, right?" Nick was always the thoughtful one, the first to understand how ill prepared Kurt was. He had very nice brown eyes, Kurt couldn't help noticing with a small twinge of guilt.

They all went to Nick's house, Kurt briefly meeting his parents and his two little sisters before they went upstairs to his room. The children appeared to be playing with two disturbingly adult-looking dolls they called Barbies on the floor, while their parents were complacently absorbed in their entertainment on the wall panel. They'd all known Blaine and Jeff for years and the new boy seemed quieter than either of them. The sound of music drifted down the stairs shortly afterward, as usual when the boys were all together. No one gave them a second thought.

Blaine towed Kurt to Nick's bed and sprawled across the bottom of it on his front, with Kurt seated delicately beside him, while Nick sat at his desk and started his computer. Kurt was distracted by Jeff, who had found a brown oval ball and was tossing it in the air and catching it absently.

"So Kurt, when is your birthday? I think I can scan my driver's licence and edit it to your name, but we'll need a picture of you. Wait, stand here…" Nick grabbed both of Kurt's forearms and gently shifted Kurt to stand against a section of his plain beige wall "now hold still a minute." Kurt heard a clicking sound and then Nick smiled, looking at his phone before he showed him an image of himself, looking slightly baffled. "Okay, I've got it. Now I'll send it to my computer and ….voila. We edit this stuff then… Hey Kurt, what should we use for your address?"

Kurt recited his address, as simply Grand Avenue, Lima. There was a period of attentive silence while they all watched Nick tap at the flat panel with letters, an image somehow appearing of his identification on the glowing window in front of him. Then, he clicked a little device and another machine whirred to life and a piece of paper magically popped out with a new version of his identification that matched Kurt. It only needed lamination to pass for a fair copy of his license.

Incredible! Kurt was astounded. Blaine's friends were master forgers!

Blaine and Jeff slapped each other's raised hands and then Nick's, apparently in congratulation at their success. Jeff held his hand out to Kurt encouragingly, and waited until he followed suit and slapped it lightly. They all seemed surprised that he picked up the greeting so quickly, which somewhat miffed Kurt. Interacting with people was easy. It was all the strange machines they seemed to have now, that worried Kurt. Blaine suddenly grabbed him and kissed him impulsively, which surprised the heck out of Kurt. It felt so strange to have Blaine display affection toward him in front of other people.

Neither of the other boys reacted to it though, so he relaxed again. It felt_ wonderful_ that they didn't seem to care that they were two boys who loved each other, and it started a warm glow inside that felt very, very nice. What ever happened from here on in, just having achieved that much made it worth the risk of coming here. Everything else, he would figure out eventually.

Nick generously let him go through his closet too, to choose a couple pairs of pants and some shirts to wear from his extensive closet. It felt mortifying to Kurt to rely on others for his necessities, and tried not to feel like a charity case, but he had to admit he needed more than just one or two outfits. Blaine told him people here changed their clothes every day, which was new to Kurt. He assured Nick he would return them in pristine condition as soon as he could, but Nick just shrugged and said he had lots of clothes, and would hardly miss these. Blaine bumped Kurt's shoulder, seeing his discomfort. "He really doesn't mind, Kurt." He whispered. Maybe not, but Kurt did. Apparently he'd had to leave his pride behind in 1876 too.

They were on their way back to Blaine's house when Kurt saw it. He grabbed Blaine's sleeve and pointed, speechless with surprise. Blaine peered out the window and saw it too and turned to him to grin delightedly. The building said 'Hummel's Tire and Lube Shop", plain as day. It must have always been there, but Blaine had never taken notice of it before. Was the person who owned it a relative of Kurt's? A descendent of …well, who? Blaine glanced at Kurt, both of them reaching the same deduction. How could this Hummel be related to Kurt when he had been Burt's only son?

Unless, after he left … maybe his father and Mrs. Hudson had married, and they had more children. Mercy had assured Kurt it was a possibility he might have to deal with, if they married. He fervently prayed that his father had started a new family after he had lost Kurt and not spent the rest of his life alone, wondering if they'd made it. We _did_ Dad, we made it.

Blaine whispered that they would check it out at their earliest opportunity, so Kurt decided to hope for the best. On their way home, they passed a Wells Fargo Bank, another descendant of Lima's past. Blaine wondered if Burt had ever done what he suggested and put some money in there for Kurt to find, if he made it here. They could check that out tomorrow too, if Nick didn't mind driving him around some more. He said he didn't mind, insisting doing this beat the hell out of another round of video games. They all agreed to meet tomorrow morning around ten.

Blaine led Kurt inside his house, which seemed to require pushing buttons on a panel, when they were inside. Kurt followed him, overwhelmed with too many questions to wonder _anything_ anymore. He was bone-tired again, and found himself looking forward to that insanely over-stuffed comfortable bed in the guest room. Imagine having a whole room outfitted just in case of guests!

Blaine's father hardly acknowledged their return, intent on a flickering panel on the wall though his mother hovered nervously over them, showing Kurt upstairs, asking solicitously if there was anything else he might need. She exuded discomfort, seeming to be worried about something. Oh… of course. She was probably worried because no doubt, now that she realized they were boyfriends, she was uncomfortable about them sleeping in the same house. Kurt told himself that his father would have reacted the same way, if he'd known they shared a mutual attraction earlier.

Blaine quickly wished Kurt and his mother goodnight at his bedroom door, giving Kurt a smile and then abandoned Kurt with her, feeling very alone in a strange new place. Blaine felt far too distant, now that he was used to his constant company. This was an abrupt reversal of his time, where they could relax at home and had to be wary only beyond its walls. Here they had to behave like polite friends under Blaine's parent's eyes, and out there, Blaine's friends didn't seem to mind if they kissed or hugged.

Mrs. Anderson flitted around the room for a few more minutes, before she left, reassured once more that he was comfortable. Kurt was _quite _comfortable, except he was lonely without Blaine. Kurt had grown accustomed to sleeping tangled together. He changed back to his sleeping apparel and went to the washroom to wash up and brush his teeth again. It was sort of pointless having minty fresh breath if he was going to sleep alone, he decided with a wistful sigh.

He was turning back the covers when Blaine silently opened the door, his finger to his lips, signing for silence, apparently returned to give Kurt a proper good night kiss this time. Kurt understood then that he'd left him because it was too dangerous for them to risk antagonizing Blaine's parents, especially since Blaine's mother was keeping a particularly close eye on them. Blaine left again shortly after, leaving Kurt even lonelier, saying he would see him in the morning. In fact, Kurt only missed Blaine for about two minutes, before he dropped into a solid unbroken night's sleep, hardly stirring until the sun was up.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: July 18, 2013 This has been a week of sadness and heartbreak, with Cory's unexpected passing. Few people have made such an impact in the short time they are given on this earth. Finn's adorable awkwardness was straight from Cory and he will always remain as the leader of the Glee group in my mind. I wish Lea and all Cory's friends and family peace one day. No one is responsible for someone else's decisions and mistakes. Remember the wonderful man he was and his invaluable contribution to the creation he helped bring to life. **

* * *

**Chapter 2 **

The house was still and silent when Kurt awoke in the Anderson's guest room, on his first morning in another century. He stayed in his room, looking around carefully at what was new and different. The room he occupied seemed overcrowded to him with too much furniture and far too many accessories, but he conceded that perhaps this room was also used as extra storage. He saw a shelf of books and took one back to bed with him, to pass the time till someone got up. The printed paper cover showed a half dressed woman, slumped against the chest of a _very_ well built man, who had apparently split his shirt in some sort of altercation.

He'd only gotten a couple chapters into the book, before he came across a description of them doing things in bed, similar to what Blaine and he had. Oh my goodness, a description of people having sex in a novel, right out on a shelf in the guest bedroom! Blaine had told him that most people were much more open about sex than in his time, but…oh my _lord, _this was rather disturbing.

Kurt remembered Blaine's casual mention of porn being easily available on the television and in movies. This would be hard to get used to, he decided, replacing the book uncomfortably. He felt terribly innocent and prudish, when he considered that everyone here was much more comfortable with encountering sex everywhere than he was. Women especially were far less modest, he had already noted, comfortable wearing in public, what would be considered skimpy undergarments in his time.

He dressed for the day in a long-sleeved blue shirt Nick had lent him, and the black jeans from Blaine, and realized he had covered himself from head to toe again. Perhaps uncovering more skin would have to be a gradual adjustment. He poked his head out of the room to listen again, still finding everything quiet. He quietly went to the washroom and completed his morning ablutions, then returned to his room again, bored and lonely.

Being separated from Blaine felt like an aching void, so he finally gave into temptation and crept carefully down the hall to Blaine's room. He slowly opened the door, and smiled at finding his adorable boyfriend sleeping like a child with one arm over his head and the other lying on his pillow. He crept close to the bed and as he leaned closer, was suddenly unable resist kissing him awake. He barely brushed his lips at first, but when a rush of delight went through him he pressed harder. It felt so comforting to be near Blaine again, after the night apart. His home now, was wherever his boyfriend was.

Blaine's long lashes blinked open and he stretched with a sleepy smile on his face. "Hey, aren't you quite the Prince Charming, kissing me awake? How did you know that was something I've always wanted to experience? Have I told you that you're my every dream come true, Kurt?" Kurt grinned at his reaction, charmed beyond bearing until he squeaked when Blaine unexpectedly pulled him into his bed beside him and applied a good morning kiss that completely took Kurt's breath away. He raised his hands defensively to Blaine's shoulders, flustered that this was so quickly getting out of hand, and turning into far more than he had planned.

He was rescued by Blaine's door opening with the simultaneously sound of a tap of knuckles. Blaine's mother, on a hunt for her missing house guest, put her head in her son's bedroom. Hmmm. Found him in one, and, oh …my gosh! Her son was leaning over his boyfriend, kissing him enthusiastically, his muscled bare shoulders reminding her that he was no longer her little boy.

"Oh my god!" She yelped, shaken at seeing a side of her son she had never witnessed before. They broke apart and jumped back from each other guiltily, to see Blaine's mother staring in shock at them, and realized they'd been busted. Blaine glanced to Kurt looking completely unnerved beside him, panting, flushed and pink-lipped and way too sexy for his own good. Their only redeeming hope was the fact that Kurt was fully dressed and on top of his covers. His mother noted that fact, her chagrin tempered by having already found Kurt's bed rumpled and obviously slept in when she went to see if he was feeling better today. Nevertheless, she was thoroughly shocked to see how passionate their kiss had seemed. It was definitely not their first one either, she would say. This was the proof she'd needed that they had been boyfriends for longer than a few days.

"Blaine, I cannot have you and Kurt occupying the same bed. I have behavioral expectations for you and that is in _no_ way, part of them. Kurt, please return to your room and let Blaine get dressed, or you can come downstairs and help me get breakfast started. I want to talk to you both downstairs in a few minutes." When she left the room, Blaine gave Kurt a sour look, pouting visibly at his mother's disapproving reaction.

Kurt shrugged tolerantly. His father would have said _exactly_ the same thing to him, in the same situation, and anyone else inhis time that had caught him in bed with their son would have had him horsewhipped. He quickly pecked his boyfriend's lips before he stood up, grateful she hadn't caught them doing worse, if he ever wanted to face her again. "It could have been much worse, Blaine. Just think about if you and your parents had been born in my time, and they'd caught us. Come to my room to get me when you're ready. I'm _not_ going to go down there without you."

He waited until Blaine came to fetch him, busying himself by making the bed, hanging up his borrowed clothing and tidying up the room. They went downstairs together, holding hands for added bravery, and went sheepishly to the kitchen where Elianna served pancakes at the breakfast bar to them. She had gotten over her first traumatic reaction, and decided to reserve her comments until they finished eating. She found herself trying to suppress a reluctantly charmed smile when Blaine wiped up a dribble of syrup from Kurt's mouth with his thumb, their expressions lovingly affectionate as they gazed at each other. How could she stay mad at them when they were so sweet together?

Watching them told her this was more than just furtive sex behind her back. They really cared about each other, just like any other young couple involved in their first relatinship. She couldn't help remembering her first boyfriend, and how sickeningly besotted they were with each other, nauseating everyone around them with their cooing and clinginess. She also remembered her mother's disapproval of him, and pulled back on her first protective motherly instincts.

When they were nearly done eating she let them know she wasn't as upset anymore as her first reaction might have implied. "I am going to think about what I am comfortable with, regarding your relationship and then we'll sit down and discuss it. But Blaine, I can see why you're smitten with Kurt. He's very sweet." Kurt's face coloured with a deep blush as he held in a shy smile, with a darting self-conscious glance at his boyfriend, grinning at him.

"And I certainly understand why you would be taken with Blaine, because I think he's pretty wonderful too." She smiled at Kurt as Blaine blushed this time. "but it's my job as his mother to make sure you both don't get in over your heads, so…just don't do anything you think I would disapprove of, until we talk again."

They glanced at each other again, before nodding their agreement. Kurt was relieved that he wouldn't have to disappoint Blaine with his reticence. He knew how silly it must seem to someone who had grown up taking sex between men for granted, but he was still finding this casual attitude toward sex in general, difficult to emulate.

Elianna Anderson saw the two boys stayed in close enough proximity to touch each other most of the time, as if they couldn't stand to be farther apart. If their feelings for each other were so obvious, when exactly had Kurt come into Blaine's life? Why had he been a well-kept secret from them until yesterday? The answer seemed obvious to her now; because Blaine wasn't comfortable introducing his boyfriend to them, until he was forced to. She wondered how 'close' they were, but Kurt seemed to exude innocence, so perhaps they hadn't yet gotten very far sexually yet. God, she hoped he would use the condoms she'd bought him the day he announced he was gay, when they did progress to that point. She couldn't help her terror that her son would fade away, lost to AIDS or HIV someday. He was a smart boy but he seemed so impetuous sometimes.

When the boys finished their breakfast they surprised her by proceeding to clean up the kitchen afterward. That must be Kurt's influence because Blaine had always just eaten and run until now, expecting someone else to clear up after him. Maybe having Kurt around was going to be good for him. She came up behind Kurt and put an arm around his shoulder, making him stiffen slightly at her touch. She smiled ruefully at his reaction. The poor boy must think she was a monster.

"Thank you, Kurt. I appreciate you teaching my son to clean up after himself." Kurt glanced to Blaine, with a lifted eyebrow, and a confused expression.

"Your hospitality is most deeply appreciated, Mrs. Anderson, but Blaine certainly doesn't need me to teach him anything. I am very much his student." Kurt meant in more than just manners, but he certainly didn't mean it the way both Blaine and his mother understood him.

Blaine blinked in reaction. Well, that could be taken in more than one way. He could see that his mother was still trying to decide if Kurt meant Blaine's manners…or something else, then she relaxed again, deciding that Kurt meant it completely innocently. He seemed far too naive to mean that as a double-entendre. Blaine smiled at his sweetly guileless boyfriend, before he dared take a quick peek at his mother, who was smirking at her son. She hadn't missed his reaction either. He took Kurt's hand and thanked his mother quickly for breakfast, then the boys went outside to wait for Nick and Jeff to pick them up again.

Elianna quite liked Blaine's new boyfriend, she realized with some surprise. Adjusting to her son having a boyfriend might be easier than she'd ever guessed. It wasn't until she thought of them together in Blaine's bed that she felt anything resembling discomfort, and truthfully, that would be the same whether it was a girl or a boy he was with. Her son was growing up, there was no doubt. It was far more comforting to think of them gaining another son, instead of losing one.

Blaine watched Kurt, his attention darting around the suburban neighbourhood, like a bird greeting the new day. He seemed to be taking everything in stride, so far. Blaine hoped to hell he could fulfill his promise to look after Kurt, the way he had looked after him back in 1886. He resented being treated like a kid by his parents, having to follow stupid rules and curfews when Kurt had been treated like a man by his father. How was he going to find Kurt a place to live, or a way to make a living, when he was merely a high school student?

His parent's had so far been pretty cool when they met his boyfriend, but he knew they would consider their relationship as merely the first of many, before he one day settled down with a partner and maybe even married him. They would never believe Kurt was the one and only boy Blaine would ever love. How could he convince his parents that what Kurt and he shared was more than some adolescent crush? That would take years to convince them of. He would prove to his parents how much Kurt meant to him, even if he had to play his guitar and beg on the street corners to keep Kurt safe and warm.

Kurt turned to smile at him, charmed at a bird singing in the flower scented branches of the lilacs in the beds, just like the ones at home, and he smiled back with a rush of love. It seemed to take so little to make Kurt happy. He had to believe they would manage somehow. But geeze, discovering Kurt's father had left him some cash would sure make life a lot easier.

Kurt smiled at his boyfriend, and immediately saw the worry in his eyes. He tried to show him how confident he was in him, in their future, by taking his hand, right there in the open street, something he could never dare to do in his time. He resolved to be less clingy and dependent, and Blaine would ensure he was safe. They hadn't come all this way, with the help of whatever god had brought him here, to fail now. He had to believe they would manage. Kurt watched Nick drive up in the beautiful stylish black Audi, determined he would one day drive something just as nice. They ensconced themselves in the back seat and the boys greeted each other, in their strange modern way. "Hey Blaine, Kurt." "Yo. How're you doing, guys."

"Good morning, gentlemen. Or, um…Hey, to you both too." Kurt amended belatedly and got a glance and a smile from Nick in the mirror and a grin of acknowledgement from Jeff.

"Hey guys. How are ya? First stop is gonna be visiting the bank, to see if Kurt's dad managed to leave him anything to help him out here. We have to find Kurt a place he can stay" Kurt squeezed Blaine's hand reassuringly, convinced his father would have done everything he could to help him.

With the newly laminated ID Nick had produced and all their fingers crossed, the two boys called at the Wells Fargo Bank to ask if there might be a deposit there, set up in trust long ago for Kurt Hummel, of Lima Ohio. The inside of the bank looked very different to Kurt's memory of a bespectacled and visored elderly Mr. Weeder, perched on a clerk's stool behind a wooden wicket. Now it seemed that everyone was seated at a desk in a large open space, with a computer as a companion. Kurt tried to look as confident as possible, while they waited to speak to a bank employee, aware that looking nervous would certainly arouse their suspicions.

The boys couldn't help sharing a smile when Miss. Harding, the attractive, young (and female!) banker confirmed there was, in fact, a deposit on their books for Kurt Hummel. When she checked the balance in the Trust Fund account, her eyebrows went up high, before she glanced at the two boys, wondering where the hell all this money came from. Upon further investigation she learned it had been invested for a very long time, so perhaps Kurt's name had been recently added as the designated benefactor and it was never properly documented. The notes told her that the money should be released to the person claiming to be Kurt Hummel, if he correctly answered the attached security questions

"Could you give me the middle name of original investor, Mr. Hummel?" She asked him the question casually, wondering what his answer would be. He wouldn't have even been a glint in his father's eye when this was invested, thirty years ago. Geeze, whoever set this up must have been a nubie to computers back then, but there was no way she would ever let the client suspect the errors it contained. She believed the record contained a typo, and must have meant 1982, not 1882 that the money was invested, but she had overlooked the fact that computer records only recorded the last thirty five years.

Kurt answered, 'Avery' without thinking twice about it, which he was well aware was his paternal grandmother's maiden name. His father knew he would never forget his full name.

"Umhmm, that's correct. And can you give me the full name of the wife of the original investor? She asked, thinking she would catch him, if there was anything hinky going on.

"His full name was Burt Avery Hummel, his wife was Elizabeth Crowel Hummel and they lived on Grand Avenue in Lima." Kurt replied easily, trying to sounding casual. She nodded again, with her face confirming his answer matched her records. He and Blaine tried to suppress their triumphant smiles, not daring to look directly at each other.

"There's one last question to confirm your identity. May I have the month and day of your birth, please?" If he could match the information in the file, the money was his.

"I was born May 27." Kurt was relieved that they had matched his birthday on the identification he carried, even if the year was a complete prevarication. His father had wisely not included that number in the question.

"Thank you, Mr. Hummel. That is all the confirmation I need that this money is for you. Everything seems to be in order, but I'll need to have two pieces of identification before I can release any funds to you." Kurt looked at Blaine in confusion. Two pieces? He had only a forged driver's license for identification.

"I have a driver's license with me. That won't do, Miss Harding?" He looked at her hopefully, hoping she might bend the rules a bit. Her face looked regretful but rules were rules and this was a crap load of money.

"I'm sorry Mr. Hummel, but the regulations are quite clear. I'll need to photo copy them for the bank's records, so I really have to have two pieces of ID. But…anything with your name and address will do, as long as at least one of them has your picture, Kurt. Your student card, a library card, an invoice from ITunes, or a cell phone bill...?" She glanced at the boy with him, an attractive young man, who must be a good friend, since he looked as upset as Kurt did about this hitch.

"Then I will return shortly with another piece of identification for your records. Thank you, Miss Harding. I sincerely appreciate your time and efforts on my behalf. Good day to you, then." Kurt got up and nodded his head and upper body to her in something that looked very much like a formal bow, before he left her office. His manners were impeccable, making him seem much older than he looked. Unfortunately, he was still too young for her to date, as was his friend, which was too bad, because they were both nice looking boys. Especially since his family must be wealthy to give him access to that much money at his age, with no strings attached.

Blaine and Kurt emerged from the bank and got back into Nick's car looking discouraged. "There is money there for him, but she wants _two_ pieces of ID before they'll give Kurt any of it. I guess we can fake something else. My high school student card, maybe?" Blaine said morosely.

"She mentioned a library card would suffice. How difficult is it to get one of those?" Kurt coolly weighed his options and guessed the one that was possibly easiest to obtain, and it would be best if it wasn't a forgery this time. All three boys gave him a brilliant smile and Nick pulled away from the bank to arrive at the Library two minutes later, just around the other side of the main square. A short visit produced his new Library card, their less stringent requirements entirely satisfied with his driver's license, followed by their immediate return to the bank. Miss Harding might guess that the ink on his Library card was barely dry, but regardless, it satisfied bank requirements.

Miss Harding further surprised him when she announced there was also a safe deposit box she was supposed to give access to the person who supplied the correct answers to the identification questions, as she photocopied his ID. His heart was thudding in his chest at the thought that his father might have sent him a message, making it much easier to ignore her shockingly short dress, when she stood up to leave her desk, displaying the greater part of her naked legs to the world. Her high heeled shoes were very nice though, he noted absently. When she sat down again, she asked Kurt how much he wanted to withdraw today, while she phoned a request to access the safe deposit box for him.

He looked toward Blaine for advice, realizing this should have been decided before they got this far. Blaine gave the young woman a thoughtful look and asked her how much was in the account. If Burt had managed to put fifty bucks in there it should be worth a few thousand by now. If they took out a hundred, that would still leave a good stash for future expenditures. He was trying to weigh Kurt's future needs against his immediate ones. He needed more clothes and some personal items for now, but if there wasn't enough, Blaine could share more of his own things with his boyfriend, and his buddies would be okay with giving Kurt some more stuff.

Miss Harding checked the number again and wrote it on a piece of paper and passed it over to Kurt with an enigmatic smile. He looked at it numbly, and passed it wordlessly to Blaine, his mind completely boggled. Did they compute numbers very differently now, or had they made some mistake? This could never have come from his father, since it was more money than the whole state had banked when he had left home. Blaine's eyebrows went up in stunned surprise too but he managed to not exclaim out loud in shock. He regained his composure after a second and his slowly growing smile of delight at Kurt revealed his inner thoughts. Foley Huck, Kurt was loaded!

Math was never his best subject, but Blaine could tell Kurt was nearly a millionaire, with $932, 748.62 the current holdings in his account. Kurt was still staring at him, even more flustered with surprise than he was. Blaine cleared his throat and murmured quietly to the woman that transferring five thousand to a current checking account, to be accessed with a debit card and withdrawing a hundred in cash might do for now, if Kurt could always withdraw more later. Kurt nodded his agreement wordlessly and turned to Miss Harding to check if that was all right.

She nodded agreeably, and murmured that she believed that was wise, while she spent a moment or two tapping at her computer, much like Nick had done. In only seconds she produced a card from a drawer with the bank's logo on it. She asked Kurt to enter a PIN number after she inserted it in a small machine with rows of numbers on it. Kurt looked at Blaine helplessly, silently begging for his assistance. Blaine murmured to Kurt to choose a series of numbers he could remember easily and enter them on the keypad. Kurt entered the date they had left home, 6221876. Miss Hanley asked him to re-enter it and after he did, she removed the card and presented it to him with an air of finality.

Her desk phone rang then, the sharp buzz making Kurt start with alarm, apparently to notify her that the safe deposit box was waiting in the vault for her client. She asked them to follow her to the cool, silent, windowless room, in the bank's vault. Blaine doubted as they followed Miss Hanley, that any of the other boxes held secrets as remarkable as Kurt's. The bank clerk waiting there unlocked the box and then left them there alone at a small table with two chairs. Kurt's hand was at his throat, nearly overcome by the thought that his father had left him something so much more valuable to him than just money.

"Do you want to read it here, or take it with us?" Blaine asked him softly, realizing how emotional Kurt was likely to get.

"I can take it home? Its mine?" Kurt asked, still absorbing the fact that he might have something of his father's to keep.

Blaine replied with a nod, understanding what this meant to Kurt. "He left it for you, Kurt. It's yours to do whatever you want with it."

"I… I want to read his letter in private at home, but then I want to put it back again, so no-one else ever finds it." Kurt carefully lifted the folded yellowed letter out of the small box, tied with a blue ribbon he recognized. A soft sound of wonder left him when he saw what lay under it. He lifted the miniature of his mother out of the box reverently, his eyes blurring with tears. He passed it carefully to Blaine to hold and turned back to the letter. It was tied with a remnant from a bow tie he had made a couple years before, the ribbon's colour the exact match to his eyes. He smiled a watery smile, knowing his father had chosen it especially for him. He closed the box and took the miniature back from Blaine, holding them both carefully. Both were more precious to him than all the jewels in the world.

Blaine had been taken aback when Kurt passed him the fragile miniature, an oval framed in glass with a slim silver frame gone black with age. He knew how much it meant to be entrusted to hold it by his boyfriend. It was obviously Kurt's mother, the same fathomless blue eyes, and sweet smile looking back at him. Even Kurt's thick brown hair had been inherited from her. There was little to see of his father in her son, it was clear to him. Maybe he had inherited his integrity and kindness from his father.

They left the vault and rejoined Miss Harding at her desk, telling her they would take the contents but he might return them to the vault at a later date. A safety deposit box was a freebie available to anyone with over a hundred thousand invested at their bank, so she assured Kurt it would be available to him for whatever he wished to keep in it.

Then she led him to the bank machine and asked him to push the card she had given him into the slot, a little confused by his reaction when he looked at her blankly. Blaine leaned over to murmur directions into his ear, as he inserted his card into the slot for him, then carefully took the items he held from his hands. Kurt pressed the series of numbers on the keypad and the machine asked him which of four choices he wished. He pushed the button beside 'Withdraw cash" and then it gave him a list of suggested amounts. He chose $100.00 from the series of number choices on the screen. The machine agreeably spit out a series of bills at him, and then shot out his card and beeped rudely at him until Blaine retrieved it and passed it back to him with a pleased smile. It then extruded a slip of paper which he also passed to Kurt. They both thanked Miss Harding politely for her assistance and left the building, feeling a sense of astonishment at Burt Hummel's loving gifts to his son.

They were back in the car again in only a moment or two, both of them very quiet for a moment at how this visit had impacted the future for Kurt. Holy smokes! Kurt was completely gobsmacked. How had his father ever come up with that kind of money? He was answered when Blaine thoughtfully asked Nick how much a hundred bucks might be worth after being invested for the last hundred and thirty five years.

Nick thought for a minute or two and answered Blaine with a lifted eyebrow and a grin. "I'd say if it was invested in treasury bills, at the most advantageous rates, and the interest was consistently rolled over too, it should be worth about a million bucks by now. How far off am I?" They could see his excitement building, as he waited to find out what had happened. Jeff was grinning at them both too, pleased that their visit had been successful.

Blaine turned to roll his eyes at Kurt in fond exasperation. "Sheesh. Have I mentioned this guy is really bright?"

He grinned at Nick. "Well we're a just little short of a million, but there was that dip in the twenties, remember? Lord love a duck! _I hooked up with a millionaaaaaire! I am Kurt's aaaarm caaaaandy. I have a sugaaaar daaaaaddyyyyy_." He sang and danced in his seat, swaggering and smarmy, until Kurt nudged him in the arm to bring him back to earth. They all laughed at him, giddy from realizing that life had suddenly gotten much easier for Kurt. Kurt still found it hard to believe that he was wealthy beyond all his expectations.

As far as Kurt was concerned, all that cash his father had entrusted to him merely meant that he was not going to have to accept charity from anyone anymore, and he could now pay his own way. He intended to carefully ensure that the money lasted until he was able to procure gainful employment in a satisfying career. He'd already noticed that things cost a _great_ deal more than they had in his era. Goodness knew how much lodging cost here. He needed to be sure not to let his unlooked-for riches go to his head.

"Blaine, does this mean I can pay for a place to stay of my own?" Kurt held Blaine's arm hopefully, hoping it would be enough to go to university one day too, in case the unrealistic dream of performing on a stage wasn't ever to come true. He highly doubted that his voice would be appreciated in this day and age, where entertainment spouted from every direction.

"This means you can buy almost anything you want, Kurt. But for now, it will be more than enough to get you a room for long enough for us to figure everything else out. "

Kurt gave a sigh of relief, grateful that he wouldn't have to rely on the generosity of others to survive any longer. He sent his heartfelt thanks to his father and was reminded again of the sign he'd seen on that building with his family's name on it. He wanted to go see the man who owned it, but not accompanied by the crew of boys he was with. Instead, he offered to treat them all to lunch to celebrate his newly found wealth. Where had there ever been a teenaged boy who wasn't hungry at any time of the day or night? Some things never changed.

They went to a local diner, which had about twelve tables and eight booths along the windows. They found a booth and soon they were perusing the lunch menu, with a clipped on list of 'specials of the day'. Everything had 'fries' with it, Kurt noticed, wishing he could make his own lunch, without all the grease that food here seemed to contain. It was no wonder he'd noticed many more expansive waist lines than existed back in his time. He chose a ham sandwich on rye with a side of potato soup instead of fries, and unsweetened tea.

While they waited for their food, they discussed Kurt's newly diverse options. Nick shot down Blaine's grandiose dreams of all the fancy cars and homes Kurt could buy, when he reminded them Kurt wasn't old enough to be legally considered an adult, and therefore wasn't able to sign a contract. They discussed changing a number on his licence to make him older, but on second thought they agreed that forging identification that made Kurt seem unrealistically older, was guaranteed to have the veracity of his ID questioned sooner. Instead, Kurt decided he would prefer to pay for somewhere to stay using his debit card or cash.

Kurt needed some clothes and toiletries of his own, so the boys decided they should go to the mall to go shopping after lunch. Kurt was expecting a general store, much like the one his father ran, but instead they entered an enormous building from a congested parking lot crammed with row upon row of cars, further overwhelming Kurt's senses. Confusing information was coming at him from every direction, with colours, smells, sounds and printed words everywhere. He grabbed Blaine's arm, intimidated by the swirling environment far busier than anything he'd ever seen in his life.

"What's wrong, honey?" Blaine whispered, concerned at the obvious panic in his boyfriend's eyes.

"I don't like this place. It's too… much." Kurt answered in a panicky whisper, clinging to him in fear, as Nick and Jeff casually walked in front of them, unaware of his frightened reaction.

"Don't worry, honey. Just hold my hand and I'll take care of you. This is the best place to find everything you need." Blaine took Kurt's hand with an encouraging smile and followed the other two boys confidently. Kurt's eyes darted around at the people they passed by, feeling like everyone was staring at him, holding the hand of another boy. No one said anything nasty, but their faces were disapproving enough to discourage him. Then a couple of girls also holding hands passed in the other direction, and smiled at them in a friendly manner. Were they gay too? Kurt couldn't tell, but it seemed to him that no one was staring at _them_. He kept his eyes on the two boys leading the way, determined to be as brave as Blaine was. His heart was pounding hard, as he tried to relax.

Apparently the rights of same-sex couples weren't accepted by everyone yet, here in Ohio. But, at least he could hold Blaine's hand in public and not be attacked, something that would be utterly impossible when had been born, even if some people didn't like it much. He remembered Blaine telling him it was more accepted in the major cities where others had been brave enough to weather the contempt of people long ago until no one even looked twice anymore. He held his head up and set his shoulders back, and saw Blaine glance at him in surprise, as he walked beside his boyfriend more confidently now.

As he gradually relaxed a bit, he began to survey the people and stores around him more closely. Good Lord! Kurt could _not_ believe the clothing some people considered appropriate to wear in public, some with far too much jiggling skin on view that would be far better covered. Several young girls wandered by them, wearing only tank tops with their…um, feminine attributes joggling around completely unbound. Kurt fastened his eyes to Nick and Jeff's backs and tried to ignore the chattering gaggle of girls. Blaine saw his scandalized face, with his eyes primly averted from them and smirked in amusement.

"Gross, isn't it? I don't know why they walk around like that." Blaine whispered to him. Jeff and Nick gawped at the girls, who tittered at them annoyingly, as they whispered to each other rudely. Kurt's disapproving expression silently said how he felt about them. They passed a La Senza lingerie store then, with the dummy figures in the front window wearing only skimpy pastel bra and panty sets, right out in the open, making Kurt stare at them in shock. His face clearly asked what possible purpose those garments could serve. He hardly knew which way to look any more, because there were far too many things that made him aware of how different things were here, and he didn't only mean the technology. Even the men were wearing far less than he would be comfortable wearing in public, with snug sleeveless undershirts and shorts common all around him.

He was vastly relieved when the two boys leading the way veered into a men's wear store. Kurt stuck close to his boyfriend, closely shadowing Blaine around the store, while the three boys gathered things that might look good on him. Kurt couldn't even bring himself to consider the clothing, after being traumatized by the journey there until Jeff got right into the spirit of things, and held up colours against Kurt to see how they looked on him. Then Nick found a blue button up that Kurt quite liked, always having an affinity to the colour of the sky. He took it and the other items they found into his arms gratefully, assuming he would now pay and leave. He braced himself to face the inhabitants of the mall again. Instead, Blaine directed him to a small change booth and told him to try a few things on and show him how they looked.

Kurt glanced to the booth and then to Blaine in disbelief. He was supposed to get undressed here in the store? Right here? In that little booth with only partial walls to preserve his privacy? Not a chance! He shook his head decisively, with his chin raised and his arms crossed stubbornly over his chest, horrified at the very idea. Blaine rolled his eyes at his modesty and dragged him into the booth behind him, and started undoing the buttons on Kurt's white shirt for him. Kurt hissed at him to stop it, and swatted at his hands nervously. He clutched at the sides of his shirt as Blaine chuckled and kept going in spite of his half-hearted defense, yanking the tails out of his pants as he tried to reassure him.

"It's _fine_ Kurt. Relax, that's what the booths are here for, so just go with it. Okay, honey? For me?" He held up the blue shirt enticingly and swept his lashes down over those damned topaz eyes, shamelessly wheedling for Kurt's cooperation.

Kurt gave in reluctantly, with a furtive glance around him, as he quickly stripped off the shirt he was now barely wearing and put on the blue one, buttoning it as fast as he could to cover up those incriminating love bites still marking his body. Blaine turned him a quarter turn to look at himself in the mirror, stretching his neck to look over his shoulder, with a pleased expression.

Oh! Well, the shirt actually looked very nice, now that he had it on. He turned to smile happily at Blaine, who merely took the next item off the hanger and held it out, joggling it silently in a silent request to keep going. It was more difficult to make himself take off his pants to try on the trousers, but he finally just did it. He knew he needed to learn to be less repressed.

One pair of pants he tried on was too short on Kurt, so Blaine decided to try them on. Kurt admired the pants, telling him they looked very nice on him. Blaine kissed his boyfriend to thank him, his quick peck turning into a second and then a third kiss, each one lasting a second or two longer than the previous one. Within seconds Kurt had completely forgotten they were in the middle of a store, the temporary privacy of the change booth making him feel like they were alone.

They'd only spent a few seconds kissing before Nick rapped on the door, interrupting them with a start. "Hey, cut it out, you guys. Your feet are way too close together, so break it up and get back to business. If I can tell what you're doing then somebody else is going to catch you and toss you out of the store. Blaine, maybe you should leave Kurt to change on his own now."

Much as Blaine hated to admit it, Nick was absolutely right. It was only a matter of time before someone got upset at the two of them occupying one booth, especially if they were messing around. In the interest of sparing Kurt an attack of homophobia, Blaine waited until he was decent and left him in there to finish on his own, while he leaned on the wall nearby. By the time Kurt had tried on the armful of clothes, he had become quite happy to shop in this cornucopia of delightful choices. By then, Nick and Jeff had also found a few things they bought, and then went to wait patiently in the mall, girl-watching on a nearby bench.

Within an hour, he had a substantial collection of clothes he had selected, and self-sufficiently paid for them himself with only a minimum of Blaine's assistance, getting the whole electronic cash thing within seconds. Blaine explained that the cash was deducted from his account and sent to the store's account, with his permission granted for the exchange, by entering his PIN number. How brilliant! His father would have loved it!

They stopped next at another nearby store to buy a wheeled duffle bag that Kurt could carry his purchases in, and then went to a pharmacy down the hall, to purchase a number of personal toiletry products. Nick and Jeff waited with quickly dwindling patience as Blaine and Kurt tried a number of lotion and cleanser samples. While Kurt was engrossed by the selection of toiletries, Blaine tried to get his friends to leave their sides so he could quickly grab some lube and other supplies, without them noticing. He finally asked them to go grab some drinks for them, so he stocked up on some goodies, none of which Kurt guessed the purpose of, or he would have looked far more self-consciously nervous than he did, as the clerk rang them in. Kurt saw the woman side-eye them but had no clue why she was averting her eyes from his. He assumed he had merely outstayed his welcome in the sample section of the store, feeling guilty after having tried one wonderful product after another.

Their last stop was at a shoe store, since Kurt was still wearing his serviceable but rather unfashionable shoes from his own time. He was completely astounded at the wide array of colours and styles of footwear available. Kurt chose a pair of comfortable but stylish walking shoes with Blaine's advice, and a then chose another pair of dressier shoes, in a wingtip style he had always admired but could never afford before. His budding fashion sense was pushing and pulling at him excitedly, having discovered far more variety at the 'the Mall' than he ever suspected existed, but so far, he didn't have the confidence to listen to it. He already knew that once he was more acclimated, he would try something a little more daring.

They went from the mall to the local Day's Inn Hotel to drop off Kurt's purchases, where they learned that cash was treated suspiciously by the staff, with credit cards their preferred method of payment. There was no way Kurt, a minor, could get a real credit card, without an adult legally responsible for the account, so they were screwed there. A reloadable card was a possible option, but Kurt didn't yet have bank access to his account to load one with. Finally, after putting down a five hundred dollar debit deposit, Kurt was grudgingly granted a room with a stern warning that there were positively no parties or overnight guests allowed. They probably shouldn't have all gone in together to ask for a room, Blaine realized, probably coming off looking a lot like a bunch of kids looking for a party palace.

Kurt trailed Blaine and the other two boys through the endless warren of hallways, to find his room with yet another magic piece of plastic granting him access to the locked door, instead of a familiar key. The room seemed quite stale, dark and unwelcoming, but at least it had an adequate bed and a fully equipped bathroom, with all the amenities he needed. He was determined to stop depending on Blaine for every single move he made. If he was going to adapt to this time, he wanted to be more than just an appendage, trailing his boyfriend around helplessly.

Jeff walked into the room and immediately upended the duffle bag on Kurt's bed, then dumped the contents of the bags out carelessly, to remove the tags and packaging from all of Kurt's belongings. It was certainly an efficient way to move in, but Blaine's secretive ploy unravelled when Kurt innocently asked what the colourful packages of…um, Colorcaress Condoms and berry-flavoured Tenderlove Lubrication, he read off the newly revealed packages, were for. He picked up the another package, labelled as a "Busy Bee" personal vibrator, and they all watched his face as he tried to decipher from the package what it was for, with varying degrees of amusement or dismay on their faces.

Jeff burst into uncontrolled snorts and giggles while he watched Blaine furtively whisper their intended purpose into Kurt's ear. Nick grinned as Kurt's mouth dropped open in consternation and he turned eight shades of red, before he quickly stuffed them all in the closest drawer and slammed it shut, as if they would burn his hands. He scowled daggers at his boyfriend, mortified at letting him humiliate himself in front of their friends. How should he know you could buy flavours and colours of _those_ things, right out in the open, just like the candy? Goodness gracious!

Nick patted Kurt's shoulder, and reassured him. "Relax Kurt. At least he _tried_ to keep it a secret, to avoid embarrassing you. But I'd probably dump him too, if he'd bought all that stuff, intending to use it on me. Geeze, Blaine, now you've demonstrated to Kurt what a complete pervert you are." He poked Blaine's shoulder, teasing him about his libidinous intentions, with a broad amused grin on his face.

"Oh shut up!" Blaine snarled at him indignantly, more than a little embarrassed himself at being found out. "You're just jealous because you have nobody to.. ah…well…you know, do stuff with." Blaine glanced at Kurt and waggled his eyebrows meaningfully, making Kurt cross his arms with his brows furrowed in angry annoyance, which wasn't at all the effect Blaine was hoping for. Kurt felt like Blaine expected him to perform on command, as if sex was merely for fun, though he'd thought he had been granted time to adjust to modern morals. Making love meant far more to him, and unless Blaine figured out the difference very smartly he wasn't ever going to get to try out that drawer full of …those things.

"I think I need to have a serious talk with you." Kurt said to him ominously, his glowering eyes green with resentment. Blaine wished there was some way to explain why he'd bought the stuff without sounding like he expected Kurt to hop into bed with him in the near future. But well, he had, sort of. It began to enter his mind that he had made vast assumptions about what Kurt wanted, especially since he had promised not to push him into anything he didn't want to do. He'd meant it, but he figured a few days would be enough to give Kurt a chance to relax enough to take advantage of the privacy of his own hotel room. A room with a bed. That he could get naked in with his gorgeous boyfriend. Together.

Jeff poked Blaine, teasingly. "Oh oh. Your ass is in a sling now, buddy, and I would bet it _ain't _from you getting some. I thought gays weren't supposed to be typical dumb guys. Even I know that was over the line. You just made yourself look creepy. Maybe Nick and I should go down to the car while you two talk? If you're not down in fifteen minutes, we'll know Kurt is dumping your body down the elevator shaft. Later, dude." Nick shrugged his shoulders helplessly as he left with Jeff, wishing he could offer Blaine some advice, but they had to work this stuff out for themselves.

The door closed behind them, and the room became very, very quiet, with Kurt maintaining an icy chill as he glared at him. Blaine belatedly knew how he'd come across and immediately apologized. "I'm so sorry Kurt. I should have discussed buying that stuff with you first. I just kind of lost my head, thinking about having a room where we can be together without worrying about my parents interrupting us or anyone disapproving. Please, will you forgive me? I promise I don't expect any more than you want to give me." He stepped closer to his boyfriend, gazing into his eyes with all the sincerity he could muster.

Kurt let him take his hands, but his eyes were still distant and hurt. Blaine pulled him toward him and enfolded him into his arms. "Seriously, hon. I promise that if you don't want to mess around, we won't. I love _you_ Kurt, not just having sex with you. It's just that, well…the closest I've ever gotten to heaven was the night we spent making love, so try not to hold it against me that I'd like to revisit."

Kurt felt the ice around his heart begin to melt, thinking about how magical the night had been to him too. But, it didn't even feel like that had been _him_ making love with Blaine. It had been a whole different world and different circumstances. He would never have been ready for what they had shared that night, if he wasn't forced into it by the circumstances and drugged into letting his inhibitions drift away. Yes he had enjoyed every minute of it at the time, but now that they were here, he felt very much like he needed to take a step back.

He put his hands on Blaine's shoulders and stood close to him, looking into his wide earnest eyes. "Blaine, I know we've already experienced things that normally I wouldn't have been ready for yet, but I need to take things slower. Your parents aren't ready for us to be that close and neither am I, to be truthful. First I have to find out who I _am_ now, in this time, before I'm ready to share that with you again. Give me a bit of time, and we'll find our way there again. Will you wait, until I'm ready? Because I know that I'll get there. I do love you, Blaine."

Blaine nodded his willing agreement. Kurt was right. Life was sort of complicated enough right now, without trying to work sex into the deal, even if they _were_ two teenaged boys and half his thoughts involved sex. But as much as he felt a surge of desire every time he got close to Kurt, he loved him enough to hold back his baser instincts. "I love you too, Kurt. If you need some time to get comfortable with sex, I'm fine with that. Its only been a little while since we even met and I have no right to expect you to adjust to this so fast. You are so worth waiting for, so I'm okay with waiting for a while before we use the stuff in the drawer. As long as you're okay with sometimes kissing me, I'll live."

"Thank you, Blaine, for understanding. I very much enjoy kissing you. It's one of my favourite things to do." Kurt demonstrated by putting his arms around Blaine's chest and quickly kissing him. He leaned back and smiled, relieved that Blaine was okay with his reticence. Blaine smiled and leaned back and kissed him, lingering far longer than Kurt had. They both let go and relaxed into the kiss, trusting each other to share this without any reserve. They finally broke apart and gazed at each other lovingly. Blaine grinned at him, more than content with what he had, though his body thrummed with a low level desire that he knew could easily flare into heated flames with very little incentive. His boyfriend was so innocently sexy, unaware of the feelings he engendered in him.

"Good, it's a deal then. Are you sure you're okay with staying here tonight, or would you rather stay at Jeff's?" Blaine asked, looking into Kurt's eyes, as he held him loosely round the waist.

Kurt gave it some thought and decided that what he wanted most was to sleep with Blaine again, but if he couldn't have that, he would be a big boy and sleep here, in his own room. "I'll be alright to stay here as long as I can see you again tomorrow morning." Blaine shot him a smile, agreeing that was unavoidable, with a quick kiss, before he dropped his arms from around Kurt and took his hand, to join their friends again. There was still most of the afternoon to enjoy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Their friends dropped Blaine and Kurt off at Blaine's place, before they left to go home for supper. Blaine briefly stuck his head into the kitchen where his mother was making supper and asked if he could start the pool heater for the weekend, since the weather was supposed to take a turn for the warmer. The pool had been opened on the traditional Memorial Day weekend a few weeks ago, but so far no one had used it, the nights too cool and the weather too changeable to bother to turn on the pool heater. Blaine's mother nodded her agreement, thinking since the weekend weather was supposed to be fair and warm, she might decide to take a swim herself.

Blaine flipped the breaker in the basement and then took Kurt up to his room, which was when Elianna remembered she was going to speak to Blaine about taking him up there. She wiped off her hands and decided she might as well deal with this sooner, rather than later. She and went up the stairs and found Blaine rummaging around in his closet looking for bathing suits while Kurt watched him with a quirked smile, seated on Blaine's desk chair, both of them looking completely innocent. She paused in the hallway for a moment, wondering if it was necessary to overreact to the fact that Blaine had a boyfriend when she heard her son's muffled voice from the depths of his closet, speaking to Kurt.

"Damn, I know I have a couple of bathing suits in here. I wish we could skinny but my parents would have a fit. Maybe tonight we could sneak down after they're in bed and lose the suits. I would love to play sea monster with you." Kurt chuckled, once again not sure what Blaine might mean, but it sounded from his tone that he expected it to be very entertaining. He was currently being entertained by the view presented to him of Blaine's nether regions as he dug around in the corners of his closet.

Elianna inhaled deeply and decided she had better meet the challenge head on, judging from her son's plans. She intended to do her best to accept Blaine's orientation, but she had certain morals that she would enforce whether Blaine was dating a boy or a girl, and midnight assignations in her swimming pool were going over the line. She tapped on Blaine's open door as she entered the bedroom, her arms crossed defensively over her chest. Where did she start? Perhaps she should reassure Kurt that she really didn't have anything against him. He seemed so vulnerable, and it wasn't really about him, at all.

"Kurt, please don't take this personally, because it wouldn't matter who Blaine dated. I would still have this conversation with him, gay or straight. Blaine, I want to speak to you about my expectations. You've never brought home anyone you were dating before, so we haven't come up against this, but your father and I have certain standards we expect you to maintain. Kurt, I am happy to have you here in our home, to hang out with Blaine anytime, but I don't think I can condone you two up here alone with the door closed. You have to behave with respect toward each other, Blaine, and your hormones might lead you to stray beyond where you should. So, to sum up, stay off the bed and keep your clothes on. Are we in agreement?"

She narrowed her eyes at her son, who was maintaining that innocent, wide-eyed demeanour he did so well. He nodded and agreed obediently, as if he would never _consider_ the idea of doing anything she wouldn't approve of. Kurt continued to stare at the carpet, blushing beet red at the inference that they couldn't be trusted to behave themselves. Elianna was quite aware that they were both teenaged boys and assumed they would explore new territory, regardless of what she said, but she believed it was her duty to keep them vertical as much as possible. She turned to leave the room, briefly halting to stick her head back in to add, "So, that also means no midnight skinny dipping either, honey," before she left, chuckling at Blaine's face reflecting his horror at the realization that she had overheard him. Kurt still hadn't figured out what 'skinny dipping' referred to, but her reaction gave him a clue that it wasn't proper.

Kurt was mortified that they had been overheard discussing something that should be private, and now he would barely kiss Blaine, suspecting his mother was lurking behind every corner. Blaine couldn't help yearning wistfully for the olden days, literally, when they were actually instructed to spend the night together making love. It would be far easier to put up with their current restrictions if he didn't already know so well what he was missing. Kurt asked his boyfriend to explain what his mother meant by skinny dipping, and scandalized, positively refused to entertain the idea, squashing another of his fantasies.

Kurt asked him politely for some time alone to read his letter, afterward so Blaine went to set up the pool furniture, while he sat on the bed and carefully untied the faded and discoloured ribbon from so many years of waiting in the safe deposit box for him, and wound it lovingly around his hand, setting precisely on the bed before he gently unfolded the brittle paper, worried it would disintegrate before he could read it. His father's faded scratchy handwriting came into view the page, in a message intended for his eyes only.

**August 21, 1882**

**My dearest son Kurt**

**I hope to god you read this someday. I've been praying that you and Blaine arrived back in his time safely and you are getting settled in. I have been saving up some money for a nest egg for you to get off to a good start. It took much longer than I anticipated to save a hundred dollars because I have some new responsibilities now. **

**I asked Carole to be my bride five weeks after you left. We had a quiet ceremony three weeks later with only her son, Mercy, Anita and the preacher and his wife there to witness. Mercy and Anita send you their love too, Kurt. I am very proud to tell you that you have a brother and a sister now, arrived in short order within three years. Little Burt is a good boy (though not always as good as you were) who likes to help his mama look after his baby sister Katy, who is just learning to walk. Carole is a wonderful wife and mother and my step son is thrilled with the additions to our family. **

**But Kurt, sometimes I still miss you ****so**** much. I have to tell myself you are happier there, that I would have lost you regardless because you would have had to leave here in any case, to stay safe. ****Please**** be happy there, Kurt. Make it worth losing you by being happy and living a long and full life. I try to imagine you married to Blaine, and sometimes I can almost see the two of you sharing breakfast like you did here, looking at each other with so much love in your hearts. **

**If the opportunity should arise Kurt, try to raise a child or two. You would make a wonderful father, and I'm guessing Blaine would too. They will give you endless worry and endless heartache, but they are so worth it. Give them my everlasting love, from their grandpa. **

**Your always and forever loving father, Burt**

Blaine entered the room a few minutes later and found Kurt there sobbing quietly with the miniature in his hands, a faded blue ribbon now hanging from it, the letter lovingly laid aside to keep his tears from smudging it. He knew he would cherish that letter for the rest of his life, absorbing the love and warmth from it when he missed his father most. Blaine held him for a while in his arms and let him cry it out, the grief of losing his father only a little less than that of losing his mother. He had lost everyone dear to him but Blaine, so why shouldn't he cry? They ended up lying back on the bed with Kurt cradled against his chest while he told him stories about his father, to keep his memory vivid and alive for the two of them, though he had been gone for over a hundred years.

Elianna checked on them when it dawned on her that it was very quiet upstairs, and found them snuggled together on Blaine's bed, against the strictures she had just given them. But Kurt looked like he desperately needed consolation, his eyes reddened with unshed tears. They were fully dressed and not doing anything sexual so she retreated and left them undisturbed, determined to find out more about what was bothering Kurt.

Blaine's mother invited Kurt to stay for dinner when they went back downstairs, and Blaine enthusiastically encouraged him to accept, after hearing they were having lasagne. Kurt had no idea what that might be, but if Blaine liked it he was quite willing to try it. Blaine explained the dish, and the fact that his mother's Italian heritage meant this was an authentic family recipe. Kurt was intrigued enough to ask to watch her make it, so Blaine proudly explained to his mother that Kurt liked to cook. She was quite happy to show Kurt how to make the recipe and even dictated it to him to write out. Kurt felt quite comfortable there in Elianna's kitchen, though Blaine eventually drifted off to watch a football game with his father, while his boyfriend and his mother bonded.

Kurt very much enjoyed the meal, though the salad had enough garlic to make him self-conscious about his breath. He recounted a few of his favourite recipes to Elianna which they discussed avidly. Blaine and his father exchanged amused glances, feeling a mutual bond they had never shared before. Blaine wondered if this was a glimpse into his future, with Kurt and his mother sharing homemaking interests. Blaine could care less about cooking, but he appreciated that Kurt did.

Blaine asked if they could make cookies after supper, taking advantage of the possibility for something yummy from his favourite cooks. Kurt offered to make his mother's special oatmeal raisin cookie recipe, but only if they had vanilla extract to soak the raisins in. They did, so Elianna stayed around to line up the ingredients he asked for. Kurt seldom measured anything, she noticed, apparently going by extensive experience. He was obviously at home in a kitchen, though he strangely asked Blaine to set the oven to a fairly hot fire. Soon the delicious odor of baking permeated the house, even making Ed come out of the den to sniff out the source.

The all sat comfortably around the kitchen island for a while, devouring cookies and drinking cold milk, feeling weirdly like any average family for a bit. Kurt decided he would quite like having a box under the counter to hide all the dirty dishes in, to magically reappear clean an hour later, as he and Elianna watched companionably while she made Blaine clean up the kitchen.

Ed offered to drive Kurt home afterward, putting an end to the bonding with Blaine's family. He accepted gratefully, since it was still sporadically raining but he was reluctant to let him know he was living in a hotel. He asked Ed to let him off at the nearby library, telling him he wanted to get a book to read before bed. Ed left a wave and a smile for him, finding he was more comfortable with Kurt now that he was getting to know him, particularly when he could temporarily forget Kurt was Blaine's boyfriend. Kurt actually did stop in to peruse the library, overwhelmed at the huge selection of books. He borrowed a book from a shelf of featured books to test out his library card, and smiled happily as he briskly walked the two blocks back to the hotel.

He was disappointed that he could only read for a short while, before he gave up and went to sleep, the lighting in his hotel room far too dim to see the print very well. He couldn't help wishing he had an oil lamp so he could adjust the wick for more light. It was just as well he didn't stay up late, because he was awakened very early the next morning by a noisy family group clattering rudely outside his door. He had a shower and got dressed, before leaving to take a walk around the area, deciding it was time he learned his way around this town again. The bare bones of his Lima were still there, though developed beyond all familiarity by side streets and extensions that called out to him to be explored.

He investigated the town for nearly two hours, stopping along the way to deduce the purpose of each establishment, but remained baffled by many of them. He watched a man push a noisy machine to trim his lawn a uniform length for a moment or two, and another man trim a greenery hedge like a hot knife trimming the butter. He tracked down a constant drone as emanating from all the huge transport machines and cars zooming by Lima on their way to parts unknown on the interstate highway. He returned to the hotel when his stomach reminded him he needed breakfast to find a panicked Blaine, worried nearly to distraction about him going missing.

He protested that he needed to learn to find his own way around, but Blaine stubbornly insisted he should wait till he could guide him. Kurt narrowed his eyes, and asked Blaine if he seemed too stupid to him to be trusted to be out on his own. He was out of his time, yes, but people were still people and he had learned a lot already. Blaine apologized for seeming overprotective, but he just wanted to ensure he was alright.

Kurt coolly asked him to inform him of what the hidden dangers of walking around Lima were, and there were embarrassingly few Blaine could come up with, muggings and being flattened by cars the major ones. Blaine had to explain to him what a mugging _was_, when Kurt asked how concerned he should be, and Blaine sheepishly admitted Lima hadn't actually had a real mugging since 2002. Both dangers were unlikely if one kept a lookout, Kurt pointed out softly, adding there was probably more to worry about in his Lima, than in Blaine's. He already knew to cross at the crosswalks with the lights, he pointed out unnecessarily, since Blaine had been the one who'd shown him.

Blaine finally reluctantly agreed he was being overprotective, taking his promise to look after him a bit too seriously. He had assumed that Kurt would be the one doing all the adjusting to this time, but apparently Blaine had some adjusting to do too. He muttered to Kurt that if he was going to go off on his own, he should have a phone so Blaine could at least contact him if he was out. Kurt agreed, thinking he might feel less dependent if he could do things on his own, though he didn't want Blaine to worry about him unnecessarily. Blaine said they would get him a disposable phone for now, so that at least they could contact each other that way, even if it was by far the most expensive way to accomplish it.

Kurt wanted to walk more, so they left the hotel to find somewhere to eat breakfast and found a small café. Kurt had already located the shop they had seen with his family's name on it, only holding off going in so Blaine could go with him. Blaine watched the cars line up for service, waiting patiently while they stood outside for a short while, before Kurt inhaled deeply as he tugged Blaine's hand to follow him, leading the way inside resolutely. The bell on the door alerted the owner that there were visitors so he came to the front of the shop, wiping his hands on an oily rag and smiling expectantly.

"Good morning, guys. What can I do for you?" His tone was friendly and welcoming, as he glanced to their clasped hands and back up to their faces, without reacting discernibly. Kurt looked at him closely but could find little resemblance to his father, other than his open honest face and crinkled eyes. The eyes did seem familiar though, a similar shade of blue to his father's. He was a solidly built man in his late thirties, wearing a plaid shirt and a tatty hat, over well-worn jeans.

"Hello. Are you the owner here, Mr. Hummel?" Kurt asked tentatively, a hint of hope in his voice.

"Yup, that's me. I've been the proprietor of this establishment since 1994. Do you need some tires?" He seemed perplexed by them, not seeing a car anywhere and no way,_ no_ how, was he going to ask a couple of gay kids if they needed a lube job. Not that he cared, but yeah, not gonna happen.

"No, I'm sorry. I don't need your business services. I wish to enquire whether you might be related to the Burt Hummel who lived around here in 1876."

"Yeah. Actually I am. Actually, I'm Burt Hummel too. The name is sort of a family tradition. I was named after my granddad, and he was named after his granddad, all the way down to me so I guess I'm actually Burt Hummel the third. Why're you asking, son?" He glanced to Blaine, but his gaze came back to Kurt as he looked him up and down. He'd never seen this kid before, he was sure.

"I…I'm _Kurt _Hummel. I think we're related, rather distantly I suppose, but still, related. It's really nice to meet you Burt." Kurt said eagerly with a smile on his face.

Burt's face split wide in a huge smile and he suddenly shocked Kurt when he engulfed him in a bear hug, lifting him off his feet and setting him back down again, seemingly overjoyed to meet him. "_Hey,_ buddy! I hardly have any male relations, so it's really nice to meet another Hummel man. I have two sisters, but they both got married and moved away, and my uncle died childless, so as far as I know I'm the only other Hummel around here. So how are you related to the original Burt?"

He paused at soda dispensing machine, giving it two sharp raps on the center panel to make a bottle of Diet Coke fall out of it, then motioned with his head toward his office. He offered it around, but both boys declined. Then he sat down, offering them chairs to talk for a bit, while he leaned back comfortably to talk.

Kurt tried to think fast, but pretty much came up with telling an edited version of the truth. Besides, he didn't want to lie to Burt any more than he had to. Burt was _family_…the only family he had now. "I'm descended from the original Burt's oldest son. Your relative was born after he left town."

"Really? His oldest boy was always sort of a family mystery. The story we've heard was that Burt was married and had a son but both his wife and son died young. Then he remarried and had two more kids, a boy and a girl. Our Burt lived long enough to see his kids get married and make him a grandfather. D'you mean his first son didn't die and he's _your_ great grandpa?" Burt had a swig of his soda and reclined comfortably in his chair with his ankle crossed over his knee, interested to hear Kurt's story.

"No, he didn't die. He left Lima for…ah, I guess for parts unknown in 1876. I can't tell you much about him either, other than he was Burt Hummel's son, from Lima. I don't have any other family left either, so I was really happy to see our name on your shop. Do you have any kids of your own, Burt?" Kurt asked keenly, hoping their name wasn't going to die out with them.

"Nah, I don't have a wife or kids. I nearly got married once, but… she married somebody else and I never found anyone else that held a candle to her." Burt's gaze dropped to the floor to keep the pain in his eyes private. He hadn't ever gotten over his first love, Kurt guessed as he raised his eyes again, leaving the moment of sadness behind him. "I've been too busy to do date or much of anything else, to tell you the truth, since I started this business. Say, if you ever need tires Kurt, come to me and I'll give you the family discount. Okay?" He chuckled as he stood up, hinting he should get back to work.

When they had left, Kurt gazed back at the building emotionally and then turned watery eyes to Blaine, with a trembling smile. "He lived a long and happy life, and even had grandkids. Blaine, I am so happy to hear that."

Blaine was happy to hear it too. He'd quite liked Kurt's father and his progressive attitudes on respect and equality back when they were so unusual. "I wonder if we can find out where he was buried. I'd like to leave some flowers for him and give him my respects." Blaine said, quietly. Kurt sniffed and nodded as they left. It was hard to believe his father had been dead for a hundred years already when he'd last seen him a couple days ago.

Burt watched the two boys from inside his shop and wondered if the kid really was a relative. This was the first he'd heard that his great grandfather's oldest son hadn't died. There wasn't much reason for the kid to lie about it though, so it must be true. Maybe Kurt could help him get past the guilt that he was the last of the Hummel line.

The next day, Blaine invited his friends over for a swim, after first convincing his boyfriend this was a common social practice in this time. He only talked Kurt into wearing a pair of his swim trunks under the condition that he be allowed to wear a t-shirt with them too, his lifelong modesty too entrenched to adjust so quickly to the casual partial nudity people took for granted now, particularly since some of the marks on his pale delicate skin hadn't faded away as fast as Blaine's had. His darker skin colour covered most of the fading marks their night of passion together had left on him, leaving Blaine free to swim without a shirt. Blaine was a little disappointed at not seeing more of Kurt, but he was determined not to push him farther than his comfort zone.

The boys relaxed around the pool on a series of lounges, and had a long discussion about the things Kurt wanted to do and the obstacles that he might encounter, with some music playing in the background to cover their conversation. There was little swimming going on, as far as Kurt could see, while he tried not to stare at all the attractive male bodies on casual display, wearing only their swimsuits. Kurt kept finding his eyes drawn to Blaine's body, shyly self-conscious about looking at him with the other boys there.

He assumed discussing his future outweighed the attractions of the beautiful shimmering water of the luxurious inground swimming pool, the back yard further enhanced with lovely landscaping and surrounded by an elegant black metal fence. He had seen enough houses in Lima to know that not everyone lived like this, so his boyfriend must have a fairly wealthy family. It was a relief to know he could provide for himself, even if the Andersons were very generous.

Kurt's most pressing desire was finding a better place to live. A hotel wasn't proving a good option, with constant disturbances at all hours of the day and night, and no sense of belonging there. Kurt wanted his own place with his own things, but while he was a minor he couldn't buy much of anything his debit card didn't cover. A minor wasn't allowed to sign a contract, which he would need to do to buy or lease a home. Blaine conceded morosely that his parents would never allow Kurt to move in permanently, even if they didn't seem to mind him spending a lot of time there. A live in boyfriend would be more than most parents would agree to, Nick gently reminded him with a nudge. Blaine knew that, but he really missed sleeping with Kurt, never guessing how much he would miss it when they returned home.

After finding a home of his own, Kurt wanted to further his education. He had finished his last year of school in his time at the head of his class, but he knew nothing of current events or any of the history of the last century, much less science or geography, for that matter. Neither did he have any idea how to work a computer, use the internet yet, or even use a phone. He needed to learn a great deal before he could consider going to university. He looked quite young enough to pass for sixteen and catch up with two more years of high school, but that would unacceptably lengthen the time until he was twenty one and be able to manage his own money.

The previous evening Nick had found on the internet, and emailed the links to Blaine, to some tests used to find grade levels for people that were home schooled. Kurt had just completed them and was dismayed to discover he needed extensive remedial classes, before he could enter grade twelve at Dalton, where Blaine was currently attending. He felt stupid, failing the tests so badly but Blaine assured Kurt none of them would be able to function well in _his _time either, and he could catch up over the summer, with some help. He thanked his boyfriend for his words of support with a quick grateful smile, but was still discouraged.

Nick saw his despondent expression and generously offered to tutor him in Science and Math, and Jeff joined in to say he would do Physics and English with him. Blaine offered to catch him up in History or Geography, since they were left over. Kurt was overwhelmingly gratified that Blaine's friends had embraced him as part of their circle, instead of ostracizing him, as he might have expected in his former life. It left a warm feeling that Blaine's friends had adopted him too.

Each of them decided they would have a two hour session of tutoring with him every other day, using the remedial plan suggested by the computer, with Kurt probably doing a few more hours of reading in his spare time to catch up on current events. They would all teach him how to use a computer while he worked. Kurt's days suddenly looked very full but he hoped once he had completed his courses, he could apply at Dalton, truthfully saying he'd been homeschooled and then pass the entry exams to be admitted.

Blaine mentioned proudly that Kurt happened to be a countertenor, god knew, the Dalton Warblers desperately needed someone like him to fill out the upper register their tenors and altos strained to reach. That might help open a spot, since the Warbler's were a long and cherished tradition among the alumnae, some of whom comprised the entry committee.

They were relaxing after their plans were set, sharing some veggies, chips and dip, when Blaine's phone rang. He answered it and discovered it was Mercedes, inquiring how Kurt and he were getting along. Blaine invited her over to enjoy his pool on an impulse, knowing she was friendly and open to meeting new people. She agreed to come over, though she cautioned she wasn't prepared to go swimming today. It was only a few minutes later that Blaine's mother led her from the front of the house to the pool area.

She hugged Kurt and Blaine warmly and seemed happy to meet Jeff and particularly Nick. He wasn't used to girls being interested in him, and got sort of quiet and shy when Mercedes sat next to him and flirted outrageously. Kurt thought he was adorably sweet and apparently so did Mercedes. Kurt kept finding himself calling his new friend Mercy, but she didn't seem to mind her nickname. She reminded him so much of his dearest friend and it was second nature to him to treat her as if they'd known each other for years.

Once Mercedes learned that three of the boys were Warblers, she bragged that she was a member of her school glee club too and also sang in her church choir. Jeff volunteered that he sang in his church choir too. Mercy…Mercedes said she would check with a friend to ask if she could invited them to a small get-together her friends were planning at a friend's house, teasingly adding the condition they promise to not to use anything they learned there against them in Regionals. She was only half joking, since the Warblers were considered the opposition by the New Directions. She left an hour or two later and patted herself on the back for offering to help a stranger, since the Karma was working out very well. She really liked those two sweet boys and their friends were _hot_.

Kurt felt constantly baffled by his friend's strange expressions, often wondering what they might actually mean, so when he asked if "going for a swim" meant something other than what he had thought, he quickly learned that swimming was actually only one component. Getting unexpectedly pushed into the water was another, when there were teenaged boys involved. Jeff and Blaine soon found out there was a price to pay when you crossed Kurt Hummel. Retribution was sweet, when Blaine sputtered to the surface of the water laughing, though Jeff dived in to the water before Kurt could get to him, he got soundly dunked afterward anyway. The next ten minutes were noisy but fun for all of them. Blaine's mother came to check what all the ruckus was about and grinned at seeing them playing in the pool, having a wonderful time.

Kurt had seldom gone swimming back home, only ever giving in to temptation when the weather was hot and sultry and he'd been in desperate need of cooling down from humid summer days. Now he understood why he'd always felt so uncomfortable, with all those half-naked, and sometimes even _entirely_ naked boys around. Here, he could relax and play with the other boys, knowing everyone was quite comfortable with Blaine and he being together.

Nick and Jeff left shortly afterward, saying they had to go through the course work themselves to get some lessons together for Kurt, leaving Blaine and him alone in the pool. They played for a while longer in the water, Blaine demonstrating to Kurt what he meant by (at least the PG version of) sea monster, modifying his underwater attacks since his parents were in the house and Kurt's shrieking would definitely draw too much attention. He whispered the other version in Kurt's ear, making him colour in a full body blush and turn to swat his boyfriend. Well…maybe someday they could try the other version, he conceded shyly, when they had the place to themselves. His own sea monster was playing shy at the time anyway.

They leisurely floated on air mattresses afterward for a while, eventually ending up at the side of the pool in water up to their chests, with Blaine holding one arm on either side of Kurt to hold him in place against the side while he kissed him quickly. Kurt pulled him closer, telling him how much he appreciated all his help and support. Blaine leaned in and kissed him again, softly whispering he would_ always_ be there for him. They spent a while kissing this time, with Kurt leisurely sliding his hands over Blaine's sun-warmed shoulders, relaxed and comfortable with the boy he loved.

Elianna was humming as she went to the kitchen and plugged in the kettle for a cup of tea. She glanced out the window and stopped short. Oh…that was her son and his boyfriend kissing heatedly against the side of the pool. She heard Ed nearby, rattling around in the fridge, looking for a beer. "Ed, come here and look at this." She asked him softly, sounding distracted. He walked over, twisting the top off the bottle, and was about to take a swig when he saw what she was watching.

Huh. He blinked at them in surprise. His kid was getting it on with his boyfriend… and doing a decent job of it too, if he had an opinion. Kurt had his arms wrapped around his neck and was pulling him closer, fitting his mouth against Blaine's. Blaine's parents glanced at each other when they saw the wavering shadow of his leg rise and wrap around Blaine's thigh, pulling him closer below the water too. Elianna felt uncomfortably torn watching them, but on the other hand she had to make sure they weren't getting beyond the limits she'd set. Ed stared, fascinated by them.

"Aren't they cute?" His wife said softly, sounding like they were two toddlers playing in the mud instead of two guys trading spit.

Ed glanced at her in bewilderment, and huffed. "At least I'm relieved to see Blaine is the guy in that twosome." He'd been dreading the day Blaine brought home some big hulk that treated him like his bitch and then Ed would be obligated to kick his ass.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" His wife asked him, her voice cool and distant as she gave him a jaundiced eye. "They're_ both_ 'the guy', in their relationship."

"You know what I mean. I was afraid some guy was going to treat Blaine like he was a girl, but instead Kurt is …"

"Just a minute, Ed. Tell me what you mean by 'treat Blaine like a girl'?" Elianna asked, her voice beginning to sound clipped. Ed began to realize he was treading in dangerous waters.

"Ah…well...I mean, without the respect he should have for him, like he was his… bitch." Ed said, his voice trailing off as, far too late, he realized his mistake. Oh shit.

"And that's how guys treat girls, right? As their bitches? God, I'm _glad_ Blaine has a _boy_friend, if that's how boys think they should treat girls. At least those two seem to respect each other, you chauvinist pig."

His wife yanked the plug on the kettle then slammed the cupboard door she was holding and left the kitchen steaming, wondering why she loved that man. Ed growled in irritation, knowing he was solely to blame for his screw-up.

Blaine and Kurt remained oblivious of their spat, lost in each other's kisses. Ed huffed his annoyance at falling right into the trap with his own mouth, and decided to keep it buttoned from now on, particularly concerning his son's role in his relationship with another boy. But he was _still_ glad Blaine was the guy… His thought trailed off in dismay, when he saw Blaine slowly lifting both his legs to wrap them around Kurt's waist, putting their bodies in an unmistakeable sexual position. _And _he should probably stop watching them now, he thought to himself in quickly growing discomfort, as his son started moving his hips suggestively against his boyfriend.

Holy crap! He was about to leave the kitchen, having learned more than he was comfortable with about his son, when he saw Kurt lean back from their kiss and gently push on Blaine's thighs as if he'd been a naughty boy, until his feet fell to the floor of the pool again, with an embarrassed smile.

Yeah, well. True that, as the kids say. Kurt looked like he was lecturing him, like a girl might with her boyfriend who'd gotten out of control, so Ed figured he had shot Blaine down, thank god for small mercies. He was kind of lost, trying to figure which roles those two played, until he belatedly came to the realization that neither one necessarily had to be in a feminine role at all. Damn it, his wife was right again. They were both the guy.

"Hey, down boy! I just wanted to enjoy kissing you, not have you hump me right here out in the open. Behave yourself." Kurt said warningly, but his words were belied by his smoky eyes, showing the desire he was trying to hide. Blaine immediately apologized guiltily, softly admitting he'd been too tempted to resist by the evidence still distorting the front of Kurt's suit. Kurt accepted it, and shared one more kiss with his boyfriend, not surprised to notice Blaine was just as affected as he was. Blaine smiled at him understandingly and asked if he was ready to change into their clothes and help him dig up some of his notes from the previous school year for Kurt to review, after supper.

Dinner that night seemed strangely uncomfortable, though neither boy had a clue why. Blaine's mother and father were terse and silent, hardly saying a word to each other. Crap, they must have had another fight. He glanced at Kurt and smiled, relieved that for once he wasn't the cause. Kurt gave him a sweet smile, having quite enjoyed their little 'pool party'. Ed rolled his eyes at them and Elianna sent him a triumphant glare. He nodded to her, agreeing he was an ass and was all wrong again, trying to calm the waters he'd muddied.

Ed drove Kurt back to the library again, and waved goodbye to him, wondering if there was some secret code gay guys had to figure out who did what, when they got it on. Maybe they just talked about it, like most straight guys seldom did about anything. He wished he understood Blaine better, but there was no way he was going to ask him stuff like that. His son was a complete mystery to him and he would probably never figure him out any more than he could figure out his wife after twenty years.

Kurt stayed at the library again until it closed. He was delighted to have the opportunity to eavesdrop on a lesson on how to look up what he wanted to know, when a blue-haired elderly lady asked the staff for assistance to look up the mating habits of penguins. The librarian patiently instructed her how to use the computer system, as he listened nearby. Kurt was bowled over at the wealth of information he now found at his fingertips. Anything he wanted to know was right _there_.

He entered a few related subjects in the search field, too hesitant to type what he really wanted to know and got the general section of shelves he needed. Then he went to the stacks and found the book he wanted, reading it there so no one would know what he was investigating. He wanted to know more about gay history and their struggle for equality, the last remaining minority in the nation to achieve that status. All the races, religions and women had now obtained equal rights, but not homosexuals. How fair was that? It had taken a long time for those minorities to get their rights enshrined in law, so hopefully theirs would continue the steps already attained in the right direction.

Blaine had already told him that gay marriage was legal in some states. He learned which ones, already aware that sadly, Ohio wasn't one of them yet. He learned that their current president was trying to make it a federal law, overturning state legislatures that propagated their continuing oppression. Kurt hoped that someday he could vote for him and add his voice to the people trying to legalize the rights of people just like him. He finally braced himself and withdrew a book he was involved in, when the closing chime went off, too engrossed to leave it behind. Current Events and History were a part of his homework anyway. He ended up reading the book in his bathroom, the only place in his hotel room with enough light to see.

**A/N: (Hooray, I'm thrilled that his paragraph is already outdated! Down with DOMA and PROP 8!)**

It was enlightening to learn about the different aspects of homosexuality. He never suspected there was such a thing as being transgendered, people born in the wrong gendered body. He'd naturally assumed there must be lesbians, the female equivalent of gay males, and that there were even those who liked both sexes. Hmm. Perhaps he was bi-sexual too. He had only ever kissed one person in his life, and that was Blaine. Perhaps if he kissed a girl, he might like that too. But, regardless of whether he was gay or bisexual, Blaine was the only person he wanted to kiss in this whole wide world.

There was so much to learn that it seemed daunting to cover so much in one summer. But he was game to try.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 8483**

**A/N: My apologies for the huge chapter, but it didn't lend itself to splitting it. So here are 8,500 words, for your delectation. **

The four boys established a routine over the next week. Kurt reviewed his course work in the mornings and then discussed what he learned with his tutors each afternoon at one of their houses, before he progressed to the next section. He absorbed knowledge like a sponge, though his lack of lighting at the hotel was frustrating him to no end. When he finally confessed his problem to Blaine, he got him a book light to use, so after that he was able to read every night until he fell asleep.

Living at the hotel wasn't working out well, with his sleep constantly interrupted by other inconsiderate guests at all hours. Once Kurt's sleep was interrupted by the noisy hotel guests, he often found it difficult to go back to sleep, sorely missing Blaine in his lonely bed. He was forced to endure the broken nights because there was nowhere else for him to go, with no home of his own, only able to tolerate it because he spent the day time hours with Blaine and their friends at their homes. He yearned to find somewhere else to live, somewhere he could make his own, and begin to put down roots here.

He and Blaine had innocently slept together every night until the one before they'd come here, but Kurt knew they would never sleep together again without the accompanying desire they'd awakened that last night. It was at night that his inhibitions were lowest, that his passionate memories of the night he'd spent making love with Blaine came back to taunt him. His body remembered the intensity of that night all too well.

He would wake up every morning feeling restless and twitchy, wanting Blaine with an ache that bordered on torment. But every time he let himself remember thrusting against Blaine, he'd feel the familiar walls of his reserve slamming down, keeping him from the boy he loved. What would it take to make him accept that Blaine was his destiny?

Out of desperation, Kurt came up with a proposition, and asked Blaine his opinion of whether he believed it was workable alternative. He agreed there was little to be lost by trying it, at least if they could trust Burt Hummel, and Kurt did, instinctively. He refused to believe that any descendent of his father's could be anything less than trustworthy, so one evening he and Blaine waited outside his shop for him to emerge and asked him if they could treat him to supper, and talk for a bit.

Burt was eager to spend some time with his newly found cousin, sooner than go home to his solitary home, so Blaine, having finally gotten his driving privileges back, drove them to the same diner they had visited earlier to have supper. They chose a booth to give them some extra privacy to talk for a bit. They told Burt more of Kurt's story, the parts they'd agreed were safe to talk about at least, that Kurt was orphaned, living all on his own now, but they left out the part about him being from a different time.

It was true that Kurt's mother had died when he was eight and that he'd lost his father only recently, as was the part about his father being wise enough to put money in Kurt's name, so he could get by on his own. They explained to Burt that, although Kurt had enough money to buy the essentials, he was still a minor, and because of that, he couldn't buy a home, or a car, have a credit card of his own, or even get a decent cell phone without an adult to sign a contract for him.

Kurt's proposition was to ask Burt to act as his business manager in return for a generous salary. Burt looked uncertain, so before he could refuse, Kurt offered him an immediate payment of five thousand dollars, just for agreeing to do it, and then he would be willing to pay him a thousand dollars per signature, simply for the use of his name on the paperwork. Burt still didn't seem very interested in Kurt's offer, staring silently at his coffee cup with his lips pressed together, instead of meeting Kurt's eyes.

He waited until Kurt wound down to silence and then scratched his bristled head, with a half-hearted shrug. "Kurt, if I sign for all that stuff for you, _I'm _the one they come after if you don't pay your bills, and you're just a kid. I can't risk my credit rating on a kid I don't know very well. Even if we are family, that would be kinda stupid of me. I'm sorry, son. I can't help you." He looked sincerely regretful, while he was cleaning up his plate with a last bite of bread and washing it down with his iced tea. Then he put his hat on again and pulled out his wallet, clearly preparing to leave.

Kurt looked at Blaine, desperate for a solution, and tried one more time. "Well, what if we put all the money for what I want to buy in your hands before I purchase something? Then there is no risk you would be held responsible for a debt, should I default. I want to learn to drive a car, I need a home of my own, and then, after I graduate high school, I want to go to a university. You would merely sign the papers and then pay for my purchases with my money. I'm three and a half years from being twenty one, Burt. That's all I need from you, three and a half years. Please sir. I urgently need your help." Kurt begged, willing to sacrifice his pride.

"Geeze kid, what kind of cash do you _have_? Where would you get enough money to do all that? Are ya loaded or what?" Burt said teasingly, looking at him doubtfully.

"Yes sir. I believe I am...ah, loaded. Blaine assures me that I have more than sufficient funds for my purposes." Kurt confirmed, his eyes pleading with Burt.

Blaine nodded with a discreet smile, at Burt's incredulous look. "Yeah, he's definitely loaded."

Burt glanced from Blaine back to Kurt who smiled at him and shrugged diffidently.

"Yeah?" he asked again. Kurt nodded affirmatively, with a self-conscious scrunch of his shoulders.

"Your dad took _really_ good care of you before he died, didn't he?" Burt said softly, a little humbled by that kind of love.

Kurt agreed regretfully. "I'd gladly give every cent of that money to have him back again. My father was a wonderful man and I miss him terribly."

Burt put a work worn hand on Kurt's. "Mine was too, Kurt and I'd give anything to have him back too. It must run in the family."

Kurt smiled sadly at him, nodding.

Burt took a big breath, and came to a decision he hoped he wouldn't regret. "Okay kiddo. Here's the deal then. I'll help you with whatever you need me for, but I'm gonna need the money up front for whatever you buy. We'll pay cash, if possible, because I hate owing money. My only other stipulation is you gotta be absolutely straight with me, or this partnership ends immediately. Whatever we do has to be on the level and I gotta know all the details before we get into it. Deal?"

Kurt stared at Burt guiltily. They hadn't given him _all _the facts, letting him believe a lie about Kurt's true past. He decided it was only fair to accede to Burt's request, if he was willing to help them. "We are agreed, but in the spirit of complete honesty, I have some further confessions I need to make. But I'd rather not do it here, where people might overhear. Is there someplace we can speak more privately?"

Blaine tilted his head to Kurt warily, silently asking if he was sure he wanted to fill Burt in on _all _the details. Kurt answered him with a nod, absolutely positive that he wanted to be honest with his only relative from the outset.

Burt wondered what more it was that Kurt had to tell him. "Sure thing, if you guys don't mind going back to my place. It's not much, but privacy I got in spades." This situation sounded all wrong, all the secrecy setting off his alarms, but Kurt somehow still felt right. Burt had a talent for sensing people on the make and Kurt wasn't one of them, or he was way off. He would have to go with his gut on this one.

Kurt insisted on paying the bill for their meal with his trusty bank card, and then Blaine drove them back to Burt's shop for his pickup, following it to a small bungalow, scrupulously clean and tidy but very plainly decorated. They trailed him inside, sitting side-by side on his depressing dark green couch, while Burt sat in a worn brown leatherette recliner. A battered side table between them was cluttered with old newspapers, and crumpled take out bags. Despite its forlorn atmosphere, Kurt felt strangely comfortable there, suddenly realizing it was similar in style to his father's simple house.

Burt looked around as he sat down, suddenly self-conscious about his home. "The place isn't fancy, but it works for me. I only spend a couple hours here at night, and then I go back to work again in the morning, so why bother to spend a bunch of money on it?" The boys held hands together on his worn couch and Kurt slowly began to tell him their story, beginning with Kurt finding Blaine on his walk home in a thunderstorm.

Burt's eyebrows nearly climbed into his hat when he got to the part about Blaine's realization that he had gone back in time, and rose again hearing about their return to the present, but Kurt continued the story, evenly laying it out just as it happened. He was honest about his revelation that he was gay and their developing relationship - though he glossed over the night before their return, saying only they had spent the night together to reinforce their connection. Last, he explained how his father's hard-earned one hundred dollar deposit now had grown, with the magic of revolving interest, into nearly a million, which not surprisingly made Burt's mouth fall agape. Truly, nearly a million dollars, Kurt confirmed, still rather awestruck himself.

Kurt declared his intention of going to Dalton Boy's Academy, a private boy's school in Westerville that Blaine attended, both because Blaine went there and because he would get the best education available, in preparation for his future. Following his graduation, he intended to go to university, as his father had dreamed he would, and then he would make a life for himself, one his father had launched with his sacrifice, giving up his son for a better future. He told Burt that he felt he owed it to his father to do well in his life, and he dearly hoped Burt would help him get there.

When he finished speaking, Burt scrubbed his face then ran his hand over his head, his hat lying forgotten in his lap. "Geeze kid, I never dreamed you'd tell me something like _that_. I'm not sure if I understand it all, but I guess I'm still willing to give you the help you need, if I get the money up front. So Kurt … meet your new Uncle Burt. You know, I was kind of hoping you might have the kids I'll never have, and continue our name, but I guess that might not happen if you're gay. But whatever, I'm happy to adopt you as my pet project. I'd bet you were a cute kid though. He's still kinda cute, isn't he Blaine?" He winked at Blaine, comfortable with teasing him about his boyfriend.

Blaine nodded his agreement emphatically, squeezing Kurt's fingers and grinning at him. They should get along pretty well, if he was that accepting of their being boyfriends. This Burt was just as awesome as Kurt's father.

Burt said he intended to ask his lawyer what he needed to do to become Kurt's business manager and would let the boys know what he learned, if they would leave him Blaine's phone number to contact them. The news the next day, when Burt called and filled them in on what he'd learned, wasn't what they hoped to hear. Burt couldn't be Kurt's business manager because, at age 17, Kurt couldn't sign a contract making him legally designated to handle his affairs.

Burt could be his guardian, and automatically gain those rights, but that involved a ton of paperwork and hassles too, especially once the lawyers found out what kind of money they were talking about. Burt suspected they would ensure they got a good share of it, by the time they were done with all the paperwork stuff put in place to prove that he was the sort of person that would take good care of a minor. He jokingly said that his lawyer told him it would be easier and cheaper to adopt Kurt, since he was over sixteen and already a relative, than become his guardian. So would that work for Kurt?

Kurt was silent on his end of the phone, wondering if Burt was teasing or serious. "Burt… do you really mean that?" He asked hesitantly, hardly daring to believe it.

"I've always wanted kids Kurt, and this might be the only way I ever get one. Why the hell not? We already got the matching names, so I think it's sort of meant to be. My lawyer friend has a father-in-law who's a judge and he says he can get us signed and sealed pretty quickly. I have only one stipulation, about something that he pointed out to me. He said you should have your own lawyer draw up some papers that keeps your money in your hands, or I will automatically get access to it as your adoptive parent. It's kinda like a prenup, but for adoption. If you agree to do that, I'm willing to go ahead with this. You think about it and let me know your decision."

Kurt didn't bother to ask what a 'prenup' was, getting the gist of the idea that it was a legal agreement from Burt's explanation. Perhaps he shouldn't jump at this opportunity without thinking about it, but he was pretty sure this was exactly what he needed. Kurt talked to Blaine about it and in short order decided to go ahead with having Burt adopt him, after he found himself a lawyer to draw up the papers. Kurt was beyond thrilled that he would once more have a family, when he had assumed he would never have anyone besides Blaine again. Of course, he was confident that Blaine and he would create a family of their own someday, but for now, they were still too young to live together, to really be a family. It would be the start of putting down his roots here.

Kurt gave Burt the bank draft for the use of his name as soon as he presented the signed trust papers to him, and then had to convince Burt to not give it right back to him. Kurt insisted they had agreed upon a contract, and Burt was not entitled to change the terms of it now. Burt compromised by donating his check to a local shelter, and they began the procedure for adoption, which would involve a short interview by the family court judge, who was related to Burt's friend.

Blaine's alarmingly brilliant friend Nick researched adoption and created the necessary historical paperwork for Kurt's unfortunate imaginary family, so when they appeared at a private judges quarters meeting, he merely asked if Kurt wanted Burt to adopt him and Burt if he wanted to adopt Kurt, then he signed on the line. After a two month waiting period to make sure they were still certain, they would be official and just like that, Kurt would have a family again.

It felt like the next reasonable step to Burt to ask Kurt to move into his little bungalow with him, since Kurt was... geeze, he was his kid now. Kurt accepted his offer eagerly, so blessed tired of that noisy impersonal hotel room he'd been living in for nearly three weeks. Burt gave him his choice of a tiny upstairs second bedroom across from Burt's or a spare storage room behind the car port that Burt had stuffed to the rafters over the years with…oh, stuff.

Kurt chose the storage room, since the tiny bedroom made him want to duck low with its slanted ceiling. There was a three piece bathroom off the kitchen within easy reach of his new room, that Burt normally used to use to shower when he got home from work, but he assured Kurt that he was quite comfortable sharing it.

Within a couple of hours the three of them had Burt's dilapidated fishing gear, old Christmas decorations, battered luggage, disused well-intentioned exercise equipment, car parts and some really rickety furniture set out on the curb on trash day to make room for Kurt to move in. He objected to Burt throwing everything out, cautioning him that he was only there until he could buy a place of his own. Burt shrugged carelessly, pointing out that it was all way overdue to go out anyway. Kurt moving in was just a good incentive to get on with cleaning up the junk.

When the room was emptied, the dingy walls were scratched and dented and the window and corners were festooned with cobwebs. Kurt exterminated the web's architects, whenever they disturbed another spider, while Blaine cowered defensively behind Burt. He refrained from mocking his boyfriend, assuring him that everyone had their bugaboos. Kurt's was snakes, he acknowledged, to soothe his embarrassed boyfriend. Burt hated mice, he piped up, confessing that he was relieved they hadn't found any among the artefacts. The floor was thick with dust, but Kurt could see the possibilities the room held.

For the first time since he had arrived here, Kurt had a place he could call his own.

Kurt was free to decorate his new room any way he wanted so he decided, with Blaine's advice, to paint the walls a soft sky blue, the colour of the curtains in his old room at home. Neither of them had ever painted before so it turned out to be a learning experience for both of them. Burt gave them both a quick lesson before he left to get ready for work, and wished them luck with an amused grin. Kurt's approach was obsessively careful, slow and neat. Blaine's…was not. Kurt would do the cutting in, edging the trim and corners, while Blaine would roll the walls.

Blaine spent a few seconds to watch Kurt, bent over to meticulously paint the edges of the trim, then forced himself to focus on the opposite wall, with a stifled huff of frustration. Sometimes it felt like not being able to do more than kiss Kurt was making him slightly crazy. He had to tell himself over and over that Kurt was entitled to take all the time he needed to come to terms with being gay. He told Blaine almost every day that he loved him, and that was what mattered to him most. But damn, sometimes he was ridiculously sexy, without even suspecting the effect he had on his boyfriend.

Blaine's approach to painting was enthusiastically haphazard, with paint splattered all over himself and the drop cloth Kurt had wisely insisted on covering the newly scrubbed vinyl floor with. Kurt heard another muttered 'oops" behind him and pressed his lips together disapprovingly,before he turned to ask Blaine to be more careful. He got a dab of paint saucily applied to his nose in response. He stared open-mouthed at Blaine, speechless with indignation at him. He had just opened his mouth to tell him what he thought about his behavior, when Blaine playfully attacked him with a kiss this time, to distract him. All the fire immediately seeped out of him, like the air from a leaking balloon, his entire attention absorbed by kissing Blaine. His paint brush slowly dripped paint onto the drop cloth, forgotten in his distraction, until he dropped it to hold him.

Blaine slowly backed him against the unpainted section of wall and worked his way heatedly from his mouth down Kurt's neck, as Kurt panted with his eyes closed, not even noticing the paint getting all over him from his impetuous boyfriend. He could feel Blaine shoving his hips against him and clutched him closer, helpless to stop his inflamed reaction. Blaine was about to slide his hands farther down than Kurt's hips, when Burt dropped in to see how things were going, before he left. "Oh, gosh! I'm sorry. The door was open."

They broke apart, looking back at him, nearly as surprised as he was. Kurt gulped down a breath, trying to control his panting. Goodness gracious, that had quickly escalated into something far more than he suspected either of them anticipated. Burt closely inspected the wall they'd been working on awkwardly, trying to be cool but, geeze, he'd just been forcefully reminded that they really were boyfriends and not just the good friends they often seemed.

Blaine licked his lips, and glanced at Kurt, still flushed and disconcerted beside him. "Uh, sorry, Burt. That was self defense. I was trying to keep Kurt from freaking out at me when I got some paint on him. It turns out Kurt is a little OCD, when he paints. Maybe if I can get more of the paint on the walls, instead of on us, we should be done creating this work of art by dinner time." He grinned at Kurt who rolled his eyes at him, still embarrassed at his complete loss of focus.

"Blaine, the entire point of this exercise is to paint the wall and _not_ the floor or each other, so if you could focus on that, I would certainly appreciate it." Kurt said, his embarrassment making him sound a bit snippy. Burt just chuckled at him, as he wiped the dab of paint he'd forgotten about, off his nose with his finger, guessing how it got there when Blaine grinned at him impishly.

"Now where's the fun in that, Kurt?" Burt retorted gently, with a wink to Blaine, before he left. With the mood broken they went back to painting, but Blaine was encouraged that Kurt was at least interested in kissing him today. He was starting to wonder if Kurt didn't want him at all anymore. He was sort of glad Burt had come in, because he would have probably gotten out of control almost immediately, though he had promised Kurt he wouldn't push him. It was proving more difficult than he'd thought to keep his hands to himself. Kissing Kurt made his best intentions fade away, completely forgotten while he explored his mouth and his glorious body.

Kurt was wondering himself what would have happened if they hadn't been interrupted. He appreciated Blaine's patience in waiting for him, but whenever he thought about taking Blaine into his bed and doing some of the things they had tried on that memorable night he got nervous butterflies in his stomach. What was holding him back? Why had he set up all these barriers in his head, when he knew Blaine loved him and he loved Blaine? He glanced at his boyfriend, who was rolling the paint onto the wall again.

He found himself repeatedly distracted by Blaine after that, staring at his bare legs in the cargo shorts he'd worn today, remembering the scratchy feel of them shifting against his, newly annoyed when he discovered his paintbrush had wandered well onto the trim while he'd been looking away. He would gaze at Blaine's well-muscled shoulders as he pushed the roller up and down the wall and remember how they felt under his hands as he kissed him. He watched him bend and reach low, and then extend onto his toes to reach to the ceiling, remembering him curling those toes when he'd…

Whoo, oh my gosh. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, making Blaine glance over to him curiously. Kurt smiled vaguely to deflect his curiosity and they both went back to work but over and over, he found himself diverted from what he was supposed to be doing.

Blaine was aware of Kurt's fascination, feeling a thrill that Kurt was watching him so closely. It felt good to know that he was drawn to him, even if he wasn't ready to do much about it. He began to milk it, bending his ass toward Kurt, and was even considering removing his shirt to see if that got a bigger reaction out of him. He had promised not to push Kurt, but he hadn't promised not to tempt him. He glanced at Kurt and caught him watching him again, and grinned at his blush.

"You're allowed to look at me, Kurt. I _am_ your boyfriend. Would it make you too uncomfortable if I took off my shirt? I'm getting kind of warm." He asked, a hint of teasing in his voice.

"Um…I suppose you _could _take it off, if you're too warm." Kurt agreed primly, as if he wasn't going to stare at his body even more. Blaine obligingly prepared to remove it, putting down the roller and wiping his hands off on a paint-covered rag.

"Wait! You have paint all over… your hands… I could help you." Kurt offered brokenly, with a deep blush. Blaine merely smiled and waited in anticipation for his boyfriend to take off his shirt. Kurt grabbed the hem and pulled it slowly up, revealing Blaine's toned stomach and back, then his head disappeared inside it. He shrugged his shoulders as Kurt pulled it over his head, and smiled into Kurt's smokey eyes when he reappeared, appraising his boyfriends reaction. They stared into each other's eyes for a second or two until Kurt leaned slowly toward him, finally giving in to his impulse. Blaine kissed him heatedly and was thrilled to find that Kurt was kissing him back just as heatedly.

Within a few minutes they were both panting and sucking at each other's necks, with Blaine thrusting Kurt up against the last unpainted wall again. Kurt felt his legs tremble at the surge of want coursing through him. Oh my lord, he so badly wanted Blaine. He wanted to thrust against him, in him, feel him under him. He wanted their clothes out of the way, their naked skin against each other while they connected. He wanted... His legs rose, hooking onto Blaine's hips, with his ankles crossed behind him, as he answered his thrusts against him, his brain barely functioning. The need inside him rose nearly beyond his control and then… he froze, when he suddenly realized he was only seconds from his release.

Kurt lifted his head off Blaine's shoulder and gathered his scattered wits. Oh my lord, he'd certainly leapt over the barriers keeping him from Blaine this time! He pushed back on Blaine's shoulders, his eyes gazing into Blaine's in a panic. His unnerved hesitation was clear to Blaine, who tensed his whole body, so damn horny he could have cried. God, Kurt… He tried valiantly to suppress his need, nearly ready to burst with frustration.

He inhaled hard and leaned away a little farther from Kurt, his eyes closed as he tried to reel back his wildly out of control body. Kurt let his legs drop, along with his eyes, a full body blush colouring his already heatedly flushed complexion.

"I…I'm _so_ sorry Blaine. " He whispered, leaning his forehead against his shoulder. Blaine could hear the relief in his boyfriend's voice, along with his sincere regret.

"What for? That was pretty amazing." Blaine answered with a huff of indignation. He wasn't sure how they'd gotten to that point, but it had felt amazing, at least as far as it had gone. He swiftly kissed Kurt again, who still looked shocked by what had happened and felt a tug of regret at Kurt's distress. He wanted to reassure him he hadn't done anything wrong. As a matter of fact, it had felt very, very right to Blaine. "Hey I love when you get out of control. I _live_ for you getting out of control." He chuckled, as sincere as he had ever been in his life. His body was still buzzing with arousal, not yet accepting that it was going to end here, but his heart was celebrating that his boyfriend wanted him, in spite of his inhibitions.

Kurt answered in a small voice, still not able to meet his eyes. "I should be able to control myself far better... but I couldn't. As soon as I let myself sink into …what we were doing, I quickly lost any control over myself. I am so sorry." Kurt was mortified that he had only enjoyed a few minutes of Blaine's attentions, before he was nearly ready to explode in his pants, like some immature adolescent. He was _not_ a child. He should be able to last more than five minutes when he was kissing his boyfriend.

"Honey, did you really not notice that I was right there with you? Well, I guess you might have been a little distracted, but yeah. Ditto, for me. You make me crazy, baby. It's just how it is, when you love someone. I kinda think if we did this more often than once a month our staying power might increase, but I make no apologies for how your sexiness affects me. Um…are your pants as uncomfortable as mine are, right now?" Blaine shared a rueful smile with Kurt.

Kurt lifted his eyebrows in exasperated agreement, quite aware of Blaine's condition as well as his own. "I truly regret leaving you…um, extremely unsatisfied like this. It was certainly not my intention to lead you on and then suddenly reverse my direction. Thank you for not being angry at me."

"I'm just glad that you still want me. I was starting to wonder if you still felt the same about me. Blaine murmured gently as he began to untangle their arms and legs.

At least Burt hadn't walked in on that, Kurt thought with relief. If he was going to live there, they would have to learn to shut the door when they indulged in intimacy. It appeared he was finally beginning to enjoy making out with his boyfriend again, at least when he didn't think about it too much.

"Kurt, I know you never intended this to happen at all, but I can't help being glad it did. I promise I will stop anytime you say so. I want you to trust me, Kurt." He added under his breath "Even if I explode." Kurt smiled at his amazing boyfriend, supremely glad he had found such an understanding man.

"Thank you. I love you very much Blaine. "They shared a quick peck, careful to maintain their distance, then went back to painting. They still caught each other stealing glances as they worked, but they weren't trying to hide it now. Blaine was whistling to himself as he worked, content to finish painting now that he knew Kurt still wanted him. He needed to stop being a horny teenager and behave like the partner Kurt deserved. They had the rest of their lives to explore sex, but for now, they were still establishing the basis for their relationship. When they made love again he wanted it to be a mutual decision, not a loss of control that Kurt would regret.

After they did a massive clean-up of the room and themselves, Blaine drove his boyfriend to a furniture store. They strolled among the different layouts of bedrooms, with Kurt overwhelmed by the heavy dark wood pieces. He finally found what he wanted, in a simple cream coloured set, with curving lines that echoed his white painted brass bed and the modest chest he'd grown up with. He thought the matching dresser was bigger than he needed, but Blaine reminded him they would do more shopping and he would definitely fill it up. Blaine helped him choose a soft comfortable chaise chair for reading, some good lamps and a rug and a plaid bedspread in blues and greens to complete the room. He swiped his card again, and arranged to have it all delivered the next day, with barely suppressed excitement.

The local Target store was quickly becoming his favorite retailer, supplying him with new sheets, pillows, towels and curtains and even a small area rug to cover the vinyl floor. The walls were indeed now a lovely blue, but now the trim needed to be repainted with white paint, a victim of Blaine's enthusiasm with a paint roller and Kurt's distraction. Therefore, before they left, they stopped to buy more paint for the trim, and to paint an oversized battered desk they'd claimed, that Burt had rejected from the shop for being too big. While Kurt carefully painted the tedious trim, Blaine painted the desk a light grey in the car port, to give Kurt a place to work on his homework. Kurt could hardly wait for everything to come together tomorrow, so he could leave that dratted hotel room far behind.

Burt got home from the shop the next night, to find the furniture had arrived and the room was arranged to Kurt's satisfaction. He couldn't believe that room was even the same place, it looked so nice. "Hey, you guys do some really good work, but now the rest of the place looks like crap. Kurt, you wanna keep going on the rest of the house?" He was serious. His place looked seriously ramshackle, he saw with newly opened eyes.

Kurt beamed at Burt's confidence in him. "It may take me some time before I'm able to devote the time to a project other than my school work but if you are willing to wait until am available, I would be_ very_ pleased to do so." Kurt was inordinately pleased that Burt trusted him with the decoration of his house.

"You can't work on school work _all_ the time, Kurt. This would make a nice break from that. Just tell him what you want, Burt, and we'll work on it in between tutoring sessions." Blaine had enjoyed working with Kurt. Even if their styles were very different, the result had turned out really nicely, never mind the perks.

"Hell, I don't _know_ what I want. That's what I need you for. Just leave my recliner alone. Anything else in the house is fair game for the curb. I guess maybe this place is long overdue for some attention, but I just didn't know where to start. You have a real flair for this, Kurt. I can give you my credit card and you can put everything on there. Hey, I should get you one with your name on it, and that will solve your credit card problem!"

Things were working out as if they were meant to be. The next day, the three of them went to the local phone store and got Kurt an IPhone, like Blaine's. Blaine loaded some music on his phone and set up an email address for him. They spent an hour draped over his bed, going through various apps until Blaine got distracted by Kurt's blue eyes. Kurt's eyes lowered shyly when he saw his expression. "Hey honey, have I told you how much I really love your eyes? I could look at them for hours."

Kurt looked up at him again, smiled at him appreciatively, and returned the compliment. "Yours are different from any I've ever seen before too. They're gold and green and …so….very…beautiful…" He leaned closer and closer and then they were kissing. It felt wonderful kissing Kurt. It was amazing and he could do it all day, except… _God_, he really wanted him, badly. Blaine focussed on holding his lower body apart from Kurt's, though he ached to roll over onto him and just hump him like a bunny, until he relieved the yearning that was always there in the background. It didn't seem to matter if he let off steam before he went to Kurt's or not. It was always the same feeling whenever they kissed. It didn't help that Kurt's hands were holding him, pressing on his back, drawing him closer. Blaine pulled away trembling, breathing fast. "Kurt, I can't do this any longer and behave the way I said I would."

Kurt looked into his eyes for a second and swallowed slowly, thinking hard, then he rolled back and sat up, smoothing down the pant legs of his jeans self-consciously. Blaine swallowed his disappointment that Kurt hadn't come to the decision he'd hoped for and stood up.

"Hey, want to go to my place for a swim?" He asked Kurt with a smile, trying to keep his voice light. Kurt smiled back apologetically and nodded. At least at Blaine's place it was easier to behave properly. It felt like they were always being watched there, whereas at Burt's, they were nearly always alone, with all the privacy they could want except for a couple of hours in the evenings when Burt was home.

Burt noted that Blaine seemed to be Kurt's shadow wherever he went, and gave some consideration to how he felt about that. He was Kurt's father now, and he took his responsibilities seriously. They were boyfriends, he knew, but Kurt was only seventeen and surely knew nothing about the scary stuff going on in the world. Blaine could likely tell him some of it, but he was just a kid too, and kids always assumed bad stuff could never happen to them. It was his duty to make extra sure his new son stayed safe.

Burt went looking for the information he needed at the public health clinic in Columbia the following Saturday afternoon, feeling awkward as hell when the lady eyed him sideways when he asked for every pamphlet she had about gay sex. How was a teenager ever gonna have the guts to come in and ask for them if he could barely work up the nerve to do it? Geeze, when he agreed to adopt Kurt he had no idea of what the hell he had gotten himself into.

He sat down the next night in his recliner with his reading glasses perched on the end of his nose, to read through them all, learning a great deal more about gay sex than he ever wanted to. That evening, he steeled himself to knock on Kurt's door, and asked if he could come in. Kurt called out to him to enter. He went in and saw he was reading, likely working on his homework, like a good kid.

"Hey buddy. You working hard?" he asked, as he took a seat on Kurt's desk chair, watching him put a marker in the book and turn to him expectantly. "No, I'm just reading some civil rights history. Well, its homework I guess, but it's interesting too."

Burt inhaled deeply, uncomfortable and tense, but he never did anything half way, and this needed to be done. "Kurt, I want to talk about some stuff with you. It's serious stuff, so you gotta pay close attention. Okay?" Kurt nodded, and waited expectantly, figuring it was business related or something.

"You and Blaine are gay, right?" Kurt nodded again, and gave him a quirked smile wondering where this was leading. He and Blaine had always been honest about that with Burt.

"Are you two messing around in here?" Burt asked, his face turning brick red with embarrassment. He hated to intrude into another guy's personal stuff, but he needed to know how much they knew. Kurt coloured too, and shrugged indecisively, avoiding Burt's eyes. He had a fair idea what Burt was asking about but he really didn't want to guess. What was the definition of 'messing around' anyway? Was that the same as kissing, 'making out', as Blaine called it?

"Kurt, are you and Blaine having sex?" Burt asked, repeating his question more clearly. Kurt cringed a bit more, absolutely sure of what Burt meant now, and mumbled unintelligibly to his knees. "Well, we occasionally do what Blaine calls 'making out' sometimes."

"So, is that a yes?" Burt asked again patiently, not willing to settle for vague mumbling. Kurt sighed and answered him clearly this time, but with his eyes squeezed closed, as if he couldn't say it to Burt's face. "We had sex the night we left home, but since we got here… I've asked Blaine to wait until I get more comfortable. So since then, we've mostly only kissed. Why did you want to know?" He opened his eyes again curiously, ignoring his embarrassment.

"Well, I'm sorta taking over for your father now, so it's my responsibility to educate you about sex…and all that stuff." Burt said with a shrug, his tanned face and neck still vividly tinted red with discomfort.

Kurt looked back at him wide-eyed, his expression quietly horrified. "Oh! Well…ah. Um, I see. Except I believe we managed reasonably well on our own that night, Burt. But thank you for offering to educate me." Kurt's voice was very small, truly hoping this conversation was going to be over now. Talking about sex in general for Kurt was painful. Talking about what he and Blaine did together in bed that night with someone he hardly knew was absolutely excruciating.

Burt rolled his eyes irritably. "I can appreciate that you already know more than I ever will about how guys have sex. I'm not gay, and I'm no expert on hetero sex either. What I wanted to talk about was the bad stuff that can happen to you when you have sex. STD is short for Sexually Transmitted Diseases. There are all kinds of STD's being passed around, and some of them I've never even heard of before this, and I thought I'd heard about everything. I got some pamphlets about those at the sex clinic for you to read. " He carefully leaned and set a small pile of them beside Kurt, who gazed at them with trepidation.

Burt coughed into his chest and murmured to Kurt quietly. "Ah, I read through them all and … they're mostly about how to recognize them, and how to avoid getting them and stuff like that. Some of them they can cure, some they can only treat the symptoms ...and some can _kill_ you, Kurt. AIDS and HIV are a curse that only started spreading in the nineteen eighties. It's started out by killing a ton of gay guys, and now it's everywhere. There's a pamphlet on that for you too."

Kurt was horrified. He had no idea having sex could kill you. He'd previously only ever heard about the threat to one's soul by having unmarried sex with 'ladies of the night', or goodness gracious saints forbid, with another man. He picked up the pamphlets from the table carefully, intending to read them later, alone. But Burt wasn't done yet, since he still held several more pamphlets. He passed him another one, with a picture of two men looking lovingly into each other's eyes as they held hands on the cover. Kurt thought the picture was rather sweet, and wondered what horrors it held inside.

"This one is on different stuff gay guys do…um, with each other, I guess." A quick nervous smile flashed over Burt's face, telegraphing his continuing discomfort. "And for most of them, you need to be wearing a condom to keep from getting any of those diseases. Um, yeah…condoms. Do you have any? Are you and Blaine using them? I mean, you should always use them, when you have sex again. I will gladly supply them, if you want me to." Burt offered, feeling more like a pervert, than a parent.

Kurt inhaled deeply, his chest squeezing tight with mortification as his face turned an even darker shade of red than Burt's, and told himself sternly that Burt was doing this because he felt he needed to, for his wellbeing. He rubbed his burning face, then pressed his fingers to his temple, wishing he could sink into the bed, and quietly disappear. He had inspected the contents of Blaine's treasure trove when he was alone one evening, opening a condom package and experimenting with it. Since he wasn't in a tumescent state at the time, he was unsuccessful at trying it on, even with a squirt of lube, but he got the general idea well enough. He was secretly quite impressed with the effect of the lube between his two fingers, judging how effective it would be to assst one in…that. He had not yet worked up the courage to open the package holding the vibrator.

"Ah, uhm, yes. I believe there are a number of them in the night table drawer that Blaine bought, I assume for that purpose. We didn't use them that night, because…er, I suppose we didn't have them available then. I'd certainly never heard of using them, back then." Kurt blushed again, thinking of how many orgasms they'd had that night. If they both wore them every time they'd erupted, they would have gone through most of Blaine's supply, so maybe he hadn't been as wildly outrageous as Kurt had originally thought.

Burt could see that Kurt hated talking about this, but it needed to be said. This was a whole different time than the one Kurt had come from, and he had to know about the dangers. He saw Kurt brace himself to hesitantly ask a question. "From what I can gather about the viruses, germs and diseases that cause illnesses, I believe you would have to catch these STD's from engaging in sex with someone who already _has_ them. We were both completely inexperienced when we... Other than that one time, neither of us has ever been intimate with anyone else, so neither of us can give the other anything…nasty." Kurt said, with his nose wrinkled up in distaste.

Burt shrugged in answer, admitting Kurt was right, as far as that went. "Well it's a sad truth that guys sometimes mess around on their …um, partners and hope they never find out. Okay, not Blaine maybe," Burt hastened to qualify, when he saw Kurt's hackles rise and his brows lower in incensed reaction to his statement. "but lots of guys do that. You have to behave as if every time is with someone who could give you something. People have _died_ Kurt, so just be extra safe."

"Blaine and I don't 'mess around' with anyone else. We are destined to always be together, so I don't see how this applies to us. I appreciate your concern, but …" Kurt was interrupted by Burt, holding his hands up in defense.

"Okay, okay! I get it. So just promise that you'll always be honest with each other then and stick to it. I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to either of you. Maybe you could share the pamphlets with Blaine, or I can get him his own, if he wanted them. Okay, that's all I got to say on the subject. You can come to me anytime you want to talk about it though, about this or anything else, Kurt. Good night, buddy."

Burt heaved a relieved sigh, as he patted Kurt's shoulder and abruptly left, with Kurt reluctantly grateful at his halting attempt to give him information he considered crucial for him to have, no matter how uncomfortable it made them both. He suspected how difficult it must have been for Burt to find the pamphlets, read them and then pass them to Kurt and talk to him about those things, when they were so far from his own experience. It meant a lot to Kurt that he had made the effort, even if he didn't think the information was terribly relevant for him.

Because Burt had taken the time and the trouble, Kurt read each pamphlet carefully, learning quite a few things he didn't know. The names of a few things they'd tried, for instance and those of quite a number of things they hadn't done yet. Everything had a medical name, and a couple of common names, commonly used by those who did them. Apparently many gay men weren't very particular who they did them _with_, Kurt learned, which probably inspired Burt's assumption, and passed around silent and deadly diseases with their favours. Oh, the poor boys, he thought with a pang. How sad to go looking for love and pleasure, and find death and pain instead. He was glad to have learned more about the culture he was a part of, at any rate, even if some of it was very sad and disturbing.

Kurt showed the pamphlets to his boyfriend, surprised when Blaine told him he had already looked up a lot of the information in the pamphlets on the internet when he realized he was gay. But he'd found so much incorrect and contradicting advice, he was glad to have some of it sorted out by a trusted source. He read them over while Kurt studied, and he saw him considering them thoughtfully. He hoped they didn't give him too many ideas to brood about before he was ready to try intimacy again, but Blaine seemed willing to wait patiently until Kurt let him know he was ready to revisit their boundaries.

Blaine's parents didn't seem to mind Kurt being over at his house nearly every day; at least they didn't when they were home. Blaine said his mother had spoken to him about having Kurt over alone when they were gone, saying she would prefer they or some other friends were there to supervise them. So during the day time, Blaine went to Kurt's place. So far, they had usually behaved chastely, keeping their hands north of the border and the kisses more romantic than horny. Blaine would go home after spending the day with Kurt, and lie in his bed and think about the night he had been allowed to indulge in his fantasies, and tried not to whimper to himself. As the days passed, those memories began to feel like a fantasy too. God, he could hardly wait for the day he and Kurt revisited that place again.

Elianna asked Kurt about his family the next time she asked him for dinner, so he told her he was now living with a relative named Burt Hummel, since he had lost his father just before they met and was now an orphan. Elianna was shocked to hear of Kurt's loss, and hugged him tightly with sympathy. No wonder he had looked so upset that day Blaine consoled him. Ed looked up from his newspaper and asked. "Is that the Burt Hummel who runs the tire shop? I hear he's an honest guy, something not easy to find in the automotive field. How is Burt related to you?"

Kurt explained that Burt was a distant cousin, and his only near relative, and that they were well on the way to completing his adoption. Elianna insisted that he should consider them as alternate resources if he needed an experienced parent's advice or support. He surprised her when he immediately took her up on her word, saying he intended to apply to Dalton Academy for the fall semester, and asked if they were willing to put in a good word to the admissions board. After a quick glance to Ed, a proud Dalton alumna, who nodded his immediate agreement, she agreed they would write a letter he could send in with his application.

Early the next morning, Kurt woke from a dream where he was entangled with Blaine, his breath shallow and panting, close to exploding. He froze every muscle, sure just the tiniest nudge to his hypersensitive skin would topple him over the edge. He exhaled slowly, and wondered why he couldn't just let go and actually do the things he had dreamed about with Blaine. He loved him and he knew Blaine loved him too, so why couldn't he just ask him for what they both wanted? He could feel Blaine's desire for him, simmering under the surface and he had to admit, he wanted Blaine too.

He eventually came to the conclusion that it was because, in the back of his mind, he still hadn't completely accepted the fact that he was homosexual, though he knew it had to be true. A lifetime of aversion conditioning wasn't easy to overcome. He remembered the girls in the mall, their skimpy clothing barely concealing their feminine curves. His major sentiment about them now was sympathy, that their bodies didn't look like Blaine's, with his wide shoulders, trim waist and toned chest. God, he was _so_ indisbutably gay.

He told himself he would try harder to embrace his orientation, and allow himself the bliss he knew was waiting for him with the boy who loved him. By now, the need threatening to make him explode was retreating, ready and waiting to emerge again when he least expected it. He got up and went to shower, sternly keeping his libido in check.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 **

_A/N: I'm sorry, but this chapter is where something awful happens to our poor boys, but sometimes it takes a crisis to show you what is really important in your life. Warnings for homophobia and violence. Rating changed to M, from here on. _

Burt found he was looking forward to coming home to Kurt every night, bursting to tell him all the small details about his day, and interested in hearing his thoughts on his lessons. They talked non-stop, and laughed about his more eccentric customers, or avidly discussed the things Kurt had discovered on the internet. The world was a fascinating place, they agreed. And my god, he'd never eaten better in his life, even adding some actual vegetables to his diet. It was only now, that he realized how lonely and cheerless his life had been before he'd met Kurt.

Gaining a son was wonderful enough to make Burt wonder what it might be like to have a wife too, a real family like so many others he saw around him. He had to remember that one day soon, Kurt would go away to college and afterward he would begin to live his life with Blaine and Burt would be left on his own again. Maybe he should make time to date and try to find someone to share the rest of his life with.

The only time he and Kurt argued was when Kurt bought something for the house and would refuse to let Burt reimburse him, insisting they were family now and it was his home too. He reminded him that it was only fair, because Burt wouldn't accept the monthly remuneration from him either, insisting that he didn't need to be paid to help Kurt purchase whatever he needed, now that they were a family. They were two of a kind, it seemed, both exceedingly stubborn and generous to a fault. What was good for the gander was good for the…um, other gander, Kurt said with a quirked smile. It wasn't like Kurt had his father back in his life, but it was very, very nice, to begin feeling like he had a family again.

Mercedes and Kurt were tentatively feeling out their new friendship, which he pursued in the beginning because he missed the one he'd shared with her ancestor. She'd heard the same story Burt was told at first, but once he learned to trust her he told her the rest, for his dear Mercy's sake. She simply stared at him for a minute or two then shook her head with incredulity. "Wow, sweet cheeks. I knew there was something very special about you." She'd believed him immediately because she had already gathered that he was not at all a typical boy, even a typical gay one from the way he talked, and his quaint attitudes, and she had to admit his gallant manners were charming.

Blaine was scheduled to play baseball with his friends on Saturday afternoons in an amateur league, which interested Kurt far less than shopping. Goodness knew, sporting pastimes were never his forte. Mercedes eagerly offered to be his go-to source for information on modern fashions and relationships, which they keenly discussed on their phones either before or after his lessons. There were some things he suspected he couldn't trust Blaine's opinion on, since he was somewhat biased toward him, and would never want to hurt his feelings. It was understandable to Kurt that Blaine was far less interested in his own appearance than Kurt, since he was _born_ gorgeous, but he confessed to Mercedes that he needed all the help he could get. Mercedes assured Kurt he was wrong, and that she would have dated him for sure, if he wasn't capital-G- gay, but he found that rather difficult to imagine. He could never date Mercedes, feeling more like a brother than a prospective mate, but it was kind of her to boost his self-esteem.

On the other hand, his new friend seemed to delight in embarrassing him, and with no subject too personal, she would teasingly ask him _very_ personal questions about being male and gay that he primly declined to answer. In turn, she would tell him things that…oh my, he seemed to nearly always be blushing when he was around her, but she just laughed and told him to love her as she was. He gradually discerned she was just as lonely as he had once been, from the way she affixed herself to him.

She generously lent him her Vogue and Cosmo back issues to teach him about the forward edge of fashion, which she said they would have to search for exhaustively to find in Lima's stores. She even bought him a couple of those gay workout mags, pointing out he needed to embrace the 'gay' side of himself. She chortled in delight when he blushed a lovely rosy pink, as he quickly thumbed through them before he immediately tucked them away, rolling his eyes in embarrassment at her amusement. But he _did_ keep them, she noticed.

He and Mercy had always felt a barrier of propriety in their relationship that he didn't feel with Mercedes, since she was far more forward and confident. It was such a relief to discover it was perfectly acceptable for him to spend time alone with her, something that was forbidden in his earlier life. She invited him to go to the mall with her, after he expressed a desire to return to explore what other delightful discoveries it held.

Mercedes discovered she adored going shopping with Kurt, even more than with her girlfriends, because she got to help him decide Kurt Hummel's new style. The first thing she did was to take him to her hair stylist at the mall, to get his hair professionally styled, and then helped him buy a blow dryer and round brush to recreate the lift the stylist had created in his hair. She loved urging him on, encouraging him to try on more and more edgy outfits. He invariably blushed every time, when she told him everything looked good on him because he had a smokin body. She assured him that somehow, he instinctively knew how to accessorize an outfit, if he'd only let go and get into it. Kurt was enthralled with shopping as a pastime, with seemingly endless choices to consider, and a bank account that enabled him to indulge his whims, since he'd taken Burt's advice, to only spend the interest he earned from his capital, on whatever he wanted to buy.

On his return home, Blaine formally asked his exquisitely handsome boyfriend out on a date to celebrate his makeover, which Kurt eagerly accepted, if Blaine would accompany him to dinner and a movie in return, on the following weekend. Blaine had already introduced him to some movies, watching DVD's during their evenings together. He had discovered that Kurt loved Disney cartoons, embracing the music and the bright colours. He did not like action movies, at _all_, and interrupted Twilight and Lord of the Rings constantly to ask questions, which meant he missed the next dialog. Thank god for reverse, Blaine thought to himself tolerantly. Luckily Kurt rather liked the Harry Potter series, finding nothing remarkable about its magical aspects, or even the special effects that Blaine loved, but refused to watch any horror movies.

Blaine was glad he had carefully chosen the movie they went to following their intimate dinner in a restaurant to be a romantic and sweet classic date movie. He left Kurt reading the posters while he waited for Blaine to return from the food counter. He pointed out a movie featuring a hero in a mask, and another showing man with a very large and powerful gun, both using violence to discourage miscreants, when Blaine returned with a preposterously huge tub of popcorn for them to share, that he was not even slightly interested in watching those, as entertainment. He might be considered innocent and naïve, but the truth was that he had seen enough violence in his short life already.

Mercedes and Kurt were eating ice cream together (Oh my god, Kurt took forever to choose which flavour he wanted, insisting on tasting half of them) on another shopping trip at the mall the following Saturday, when she casually announced that she had gotten permission to invite him, along with Blaine, Nick, Jeff to attend a party her friends were having that night at her friend's house. She added, with a significant smile that the girl-friend of the guy hosting it had two gay fathers, correctly guessing he would be stunned by the news that right here in tiny little Lima, there were two gay men who had raised a daughter as a family, proving that times had certainly changed from when he was born.

He protested that he had already asked Blaine to accompany him on a date, to which Mercedes merely lifted a disdainful eyebrow, before she coolly informed him they would be together at the party anyway, so there was his date settled. His next excuse was that Mercedes' friends probably wouldn't like him. She merely whacked his shoulder in response to that, not deigning to honour it with a reply, and insisted confidently that they sure as hell would, if she told them to. He was sweet and talented and so were Blaine and the other guys, so why wouldn't they like him? The girls in their group needed some better options to date, she mentioned breezily, and Nick and Jeff probably wouldn't go if they didn't, so just shut the hell up about it. He agreed to attend only if Blaine approved, so she invited the other guys when they found them waiting for him when he and Mercedes returned home.

Kurt innocently asked Blaine if Rachel's parents might accompany her to the event, but he only got a broad smile in return with Blaine's eyebrows doing that waggling thing he did, that made them look like dancing caterpillars. "I assume I am being naïve again?" Kurt asked him dryly, already knowing the answer. He should know by now that teenagers did very little here in the company of their parents, whereas in his time young people in mixed company were almost always diligently supervised.

Blaine nodded, before he leaned in to kiss his lips, resting his hands on his hips. "Yep. Parties are always lame with parents around, hon." Jeff agreed emphatically, as Nick smiled nearby. Kurt wondered if he would never absorb all the nuances of this era. Both of their friends agreed they would go with Blaine and Kurt, since they liked Mercedes and her friends seemed…well, interesting, judging from their Facebook walls…_and_ there would be girls there. Kurt couldn't help regretting that he wouldn't have an opportunity to meet the homosexual parents of Mercedes' friend Rachel. Perhaps if he cultivated Rachel's acquaintance he would achieve an introduction at a later date.

Mercedes helped Kurt chose from his selection of purchases the outfit he would wear for the party. Blaine heartily approved when he emerged from the bathroom to model it for him, his eyes glowing with approval. God, those dark blue skinnies and that silvery blue silk shirt were…oh my god, Kurt's body in that outfit made him positively weak at the knees. "God, you are so hot, I could just about eat you…" Blaine breathed in a low voice, then replayed it in his head, when Kurt and his friends glanced at him in surprised shock, and Mercedes snorted uninhibitedly.

"Um, that didn't sound very good, did it? But the sentiment stands." Blaine let his eyes convey his meaning, their topaz depths looking dark and smoky, while his friends looked at each other uneasily. Mercedes was the one who said what they were all thinking, of course. "Down boy, unless you want us to leave you alone for some privacy." Blaine shook his head regretfully, remembering his promise to let his boyfriend make the first move, but that didn't mean he couldn't still admire the view.

Kurt contemplated him thoughtfully, his blush beginning to fade, thinking kissing Blaine was wonderful, it felt amazing. But god, sometimes he could almost eat Blaine up too. But who was he trying to fool? Unfortunately, he would likely not nibble on any of Blaine's anatomy, other than his lips, in the reticent frame of mind he was in now. Blaine saw his eyes reflect his regret and smiled understandingly.

Blaine and their friends left shortly after that, each of them returning home to have their dinner and get ready for the party later that evening. Kurt changed back to his day clothes, and carefully put away his purchases, except for the ones he would wear later, laid out on the bed to wait until he prepared for the evening's entertainment

Burt had finally shared some of the household tasks with him when Kurt suggested he should pitch in. After all he insisted, he had helped out at home in his previous life, so why shouldn't he help out here? As a result, it was his turn that night to make supper in the gloomy ill-equipped kitchen. The kitchen was next on Kurt's list, with a paint job to transform the dated cabinets and walls, new hardware and faucets, a new countertop and sink and perhaps even new appliances to replace Burt's outdated gold ones. He knew the kitchen would be far more inviting to work in, once he was done with it.

The living room, on the other hand, was already newly decorated, with only the battered leather recliner still holding court as Burt's throne in the centre of the room. But a coat of paint, which Burt had applied himself, a comfortable new taupe sectional couch, lamps and stylish tables and accessories all chosen by Kurt had completely transformed the room to be far more inviting than it had been previously. Kurt had discovered he had an eye for decorating, another new passion he was pleased to indulge.

Burt's dull bedroom was next on the list, after the kitchen, and then the bathrooms. Then he intended to start on the outdoors, already planning a makeover for the front porch and some new landscaping to set off freshly washed white siding on the house. Some shutters would look nice too, perhaps in a soft misty green. And maybe he would find a porch swing like the one his father had, to swing with Blaine in the evenings, with his arm around him. He smiled to himself, very much enjoying planning a makeover to Burt's house…particularly since it was now his house too. The fact that he could contemplate openly swinging on the front porch in the company of his boyfriend made him positively jubilant.

He started supper, so Burt could relax once he got home from a long day in the shop, with some pork chops baking in the oven, with new potatoes and fresh asparagus and salad. He had discovered a nearly endless array of fresh vegetables in the grocery store and was working his way through them, tossing them into stir fries and salads, as the mood struck him. And gosh, he loved stir fries, the best invention ever! Now he knew why everyone loved to plan social events around food, with so many choices available, compared to his time.

He and Burt ate supper and then cleaned up the kitchen together, talking over Burt's day, and Kurt's plans for the evening. He mentioned to Burt that he anticipated meeting a young lady raised by two men tonight. Burt recognized the Berry's, Rachel's gay fathers, because he serviced their cars, and added that it was a good idea to meet them, since they might be some good role models for him. Kurt carefully didn't mention that they were away from home just now, instinctively knowing how Burt would feel about their daughter going to a party without any adults around, regardless of the social norms. He felt guilty about deceiving Burt…but not guilty enough to confess their true plans, and betray Mercedes' confidence.

Kurt went to his room after dinner was cleaned up to carefully groom himself, and was ready and waiting when the horn tooted in the driveway, signalling his friend's arrival, quite pleased with his appearance. Kurt said goodbye to Burt, quickly adding he didn't know when he would be home, before he wished him a good night.

It was only once he'd left that Burt remembered Kurt was only seventeen, so maybe he should think about a curfew for him. It had never come up until now, since he and Blaine seemed to prefer to stay in, rather than go anywhere in the evenings, other than their one date so far. Burt decided he should talk to them tomorrow and see how they felt about it, but as long as it wasn't a problem, why make more rules? Kurt had so far been a model son.

Nick watched Blaine's face light up as Kurt left the house, and gracefully lope to the car, before he opened the back door for him to join him. They shared a quick kiss to say hello, before Kurt said hi to the guys, in the front seat. Blaine whistled as he looked Kurt up and down, making him scrunch his shoulders with pleasure. His outfit had been fairly expensive, all designer pieces but he knew he looked good too, his skin freshly moisturized and his hair immaculate. How had he ever gotten along without hairspray until now?

Blaine looked pretty wonderful too, as he surveyed him in turn. Red looked amazing on Blaine and that striped bowtie made Kurt nearly melt into an infatuated blob. But Blaine's most amazing accessories were his tawny eyes, warm with his appreciation of his boyfriend. Their mutual admiration was interrupted when Jeff turned around in his seat to ask Kurt what he knew about these people they were going to meet, his blue eyes eager with anticipation.

"So tell us about the girls Mercedes said are gonna be at this party, okay Kurt?" He grinned at Nick, driving the car. "I want to make sure I edge Nick out before he gets the best one."

Nick grinned and swatted at him dismissively, before he returned his gaze to the road. Kurt laughed at his teasing and did his best to remember what his friend had told him about them. "Hmm. Mercedes says that you should both keep clear of Rachel, because she is just slightly insane, but… and you will guess when I am quoting her here, 'she has the hots' for the guy who is hosting the party anyway. And you should also and avoid going near a rather terrifying dark haired girl named Santana, that she says keeps razor blades in her hair."

"She said Quinn, a lovely blonde, is mostly nice in an unnerving sort of way and Brittney is very sweet and very loving, though somewhat dim. Tina is Asian and pretends to be Goth, whatever that means, but she is actually sweet as sunshine. She already has a boyfriend, unfortunately for you two, also Asian. Sugar, (my goodness, is that truly her given name?) is kind of a 'spoiled brat', but she's apparently 'cool to hang out with' … and generous to a fault. I'm not sure who else might be there, but you can check with Mercedes about them if you're curious. She knows everyone in town, apparently."

"I wonder what she told them about us?" Nick speculated, glancing back to his friends. Nick had earlier volunteered to be the designated driver and get everyone home safely. Kurt was confused by the term, until Blaine explained there would probably be drinking at the party, and driving after you were drinking was totally stupid, so therefore somebody had to stay sober. Kurt realized he would have been the ideal choice, if he could drive, since he didn't care for beer anyway.

He was eager to learn more about how people his age interacted socially in this time, especially knowing that none of the girls would be interested in he and Blaine romantically, since Mercedes had told them they were a couple, something that had always fretted him when he had attended functions in his previous life.

Jeff turned to address the boys in the back seat, as they neared their destination. "Just tell us if you want to bail this party, guys. We're not interested in hanging with them, if they give you a tough time about being together. And we'll let you know when we want to leave, if it's a blowout." Jeff announced casually, knowing Nick agreed, without asking.

Kurt smiled gratefully. How considerate of their friends, so be willing to leave an event, should they encounter any homophobia, which he'd learned was the correct term for people's hatred of their relationship, which he had learned in his reading.

"I expect to avoid any homophobic issues at this party. Mercedes tells me Rachel's parents are a gay couple, so there shouldn't be any problems encountered with her friends." Kurt replied confidently. He was thrilled that he and Blaine could go out to a party as a couple here, and be accepted as simply normal, in complete contrast to when he had been raised. More and more he was grateful to have the opportunity to live his life in this era, instead of when he had been born.

They pulled up to the address given to them, but had to park a block down the street. There were already several cars lining the streets, and music throbbing in the air, emanating from a small house with every window glowing with lights. They went to the door and knocked, but no one heard, no doubt due to the volume of the music, which must have been audible over half the town. They entered the house any way, which was expected Blaine assured him, and followed the source of the noise to the basement, to find a crowded tangle of people in a dimly lit room.

Some were dancing, and some were leaning against the wall, talking in small groups. Others were sitting. Oh my! And a girl with long black hair was on a boy's lap, making out with him in the middle of the room, behaving as if they were all alone. A different boy in a wheeled chair was wearing a ridiculous knitted hat with strings while a skimpily dressed blonde girl sat on his lap holding a drink, alternately drinking from it and then tipping it into his mouth. The music boomed, making conversation impossible as they looked through the crowd for Mercedes.

Two arms suddenly startled Kurt when they wrapped around his ribs from behind, until he looked down to see Mercedes' brown hands clasped together over his chest. He turned with a smile and kissed Mercedes' cheek in greeting. She seemed inordinately pleased that they had arrived.

"_There_ you are! Yay, you all made it to Chez Hudson. Come on, and I'll find Rachel and Finn and introduce you." She grabbed hold of Kurt's hand, dragging him behind her through the crowd around clumps of people, with Blaine and the other boys following, in a long winding chain. No one seemed to take much notice of them.

"Rachel! Finn! These are my boys. Look, aren't they beautiful?" Mercedes turned and presented them proudly to a dark haired very petite girl and a startlingly tall boy beside her looking at them hazily. Rachel had appointed herself the hostess for her boyfriend, apparently, because it was her that responded with a girlish giggle.

"Well, Hi! My goodness, you are quite an attractive bunch. Merchedese…Um, Mercsssedes, no... _Mercedes_ says you're all from Dalton, so of course, you're _gay!_ This is a gay friendly party boys, because you will be pleased to know, my dads are gay! Welcome to our gay party, boys."

Blaine chuckled in amusement at her effusive welcome, as she hugged them both. Finn merely watched silently, with a vacantly quirked smile, thinking hard. Huh? This was a gay party? When the hell did that happen? Mercedes had just asked him if she could invite some nice guys she knew. Finn was holding a nearly empty bottle of beer, his third of the night and already that was enough to make his brain sluggish enough to have trouble following things. One more would be enough to make him not worry about it. He decided to go for worry-free, and have another beer. Maybe he would figure it out tomorrow.

"We're not _all _gay, Rachel, just because we go to Dalton. This is Nick and Jeff, who are completely straight, despite the persistent rumours. I'm Blaine and this is my boyfriend Kurt so yes, we _are_ gay. It's very nice to meet you." Blaine hugged her back, casually comfortable in a crowd of strangers in a way Kurt had never been.

"I am very pleased to meet you Rachel. I hope to meet your family one day." Kurt added shyly. She smiled at him brilliantly and then suddenly darted off, distracted by someone nearby. He glanced around the dimly lit room curiously, wondering what he might have in common with these people. He intended to keep a low profile to watch and learn from the social habits of modern teenagers in their natural habitat.

Mercedes had peeled away from them too to greet some other friends once Rachel had started talking and now returned, holding the arm of a beautiful blonde girl. "Quinn, these are my new friends, Nick and Jeff. They go to Dalton Academy, but don't hold it against them, they're really nice guys, and very, very cute too. This is Kurt and Blaine. Leave your hands off them because they're both mine, but these other two are fair game. Guys, this is Quinn Fabray, who can be an icy bitch when she wants to be but, if she tries hard, she can also be nice. Be_ nice_ Quinn." She patted her friend on the back and wandered away again.

Quinn merely smiled and greeted them. "Hello, it's nice to meet you all." She spoke to them coolly, without a smidgen of embarrassment at being introduced as a bitch. "Come on, we'll get you all a drink first and then you can meet some other people." She turned to weave through the crowd, so they followed her to a card table set up in the laundry room crowded with liquor bottles and soda. Red plastic cups were stacked high beside an ice-cream tub of half melted ice cubes with a large red plastic spoon in them. She waved her hand vaguely over the table, implying they should help themselves.

Jeff splashed some ginger ale into two cups, and plopped a couple of ice cubes in. He passed one to Nick before topping his with some rum before turning to follow another blonde girl as she wandered by, with Nick following behind him. Blaine got a couple of cups and mixed up some seven and seven for them, passing Kurt a cup, who accepted it absently as he scanned the crowd warily.

"What are you worried about, Kurt?" Blaine said, leaning and speaking up over the music throbbing. Kurt shrugged, suspecting he was so uneasy because of all the strangers. Rachel had clearly said this was a gay friendly party. He needed to just relax, and accept that he could be with Blaine here. Kurt absently took a sip of his drink, choking on it immediately and sputtering, his hand over his mouth to protect his clothes.

"What is _in _this? Is this whiskey?" His voice squeaked, surprised by the familiar rough taste. It wasn't too strong or nasty or anything, in spite of his reaction. He'd just been expecting straight soda. His father occasionally had a small whiskey in the evenings, convinced it was good for him in small quantities, and even Anita had made him drink some when he was sick, citing its healthful properties against a chill. He took another sip, and decided it wasn't that bad at all. Blaine took a sip of his too, and asked Kurt to dance with him.

Kurt demurred at first, not entirely because he was nervous of the crowd, but because he wasn't confident enough to dance in public. The sort of dancing they did in this time wasn't anything like the waltzing and rounds that he was familiar with. Blaine pointed out that several people were barely shuffling on the dance floor, then cajoled and whined playfully until Kurt finally gave in. They tipped back their drinks to free their hands and found a spot clear enough to stand. Kurt wrapped his arm around Blaine's shoulders, and felt Blaine take his hand to hold his fingers to his chest, pulling him toward him, then they started swaying to the music.

Kurt gradually relaxed into him, closing his eyes and letting himself sink into the music. This was very nice, much like making out without the kissing. He felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned to find Rachel there, with a frightening smile. "'Scush me. Can I cut in? I wanna dance with Blaine to make Finn jealous." Kurt blinked at her, and politely tipped a bow to her, before he relinquished his boyfriend's hand. Blaine sent him a panicked glance as Rachel draped herself over his chest and then began to dance, leading all the way. Kurt chuckled and went to find Nick and Jeff. One had to be polite to one's hostess.

He found Jeff on the couch with Quinn on his lap, kissing her neck with her eyes closed in appreciation. Oh. Well. Good for Jeff, he supposed. Nick was…ooh boy, stuck politely listening to the black haired girl a wooden smile on his face, as she bragged about being the head cheerleader at her school. He looked sort of desperate. Kurt glided in beside them, wondering if he should rescue him.

"Hello, I'm Kurt. I'm a friend of Nick's." He said, introducing himself, prompting her to say her name was Santana. The girl looked him up and down and asked if he was new in town, adding that she thought she knew everyone in Lima, well, all the guys at least, she qualified with a gleam in her eye that made Kurt lift his eyebrows at her tone. Nick squirmed uncomfortably, his tobacco coloured brown eyes sending him a frantic request to get him the hell out of here.

"I see your glass is empty Santana, as is mine. Would you mind showing me where to refresh them?" Kurt asked her smoothly. She nodded agreeably, saying "Sure twinkle toes." and took Kurt's hand to lead him to the drinks. Nick slipped away gratefully in the other direction, with a thumbs up to Kurt.

An hour later, Kurt was on his third drink, dancing with abandon with his boyfriend, who had apparently gone completely spastic. Nick and Mercedes were talking in a corner, slumped comfortably together, and Jeff and Quinn had disappeared somewhere. Rachel was dancing again with the giant, Finn, barely reaching his solar plexus. Kurt found it very funny that her ploy must have worked. This was very enjoyable. He was having such a good time, he told Blaine. Blaine grinned and leaned to kiss him a glancing smooch, hitting his check instead of his mouth, but carrying on with his dancing afterward. Other couples were dancing nearby, no one taking any notice of them.

Two hours later, they'd put six drinks down the hatch and were having a great time. Blaine had been dancing in a more and more uncoordinated way, when Kurt had tripped over an unexpectedly jutting foot and toppled him to the couch. They laughed like maniacs, and stayed there for a bit, surveying the party. There was a couple on the other end of the couch making out who hadn't even flinched when Blaine elbowed them, and another in the corner chair. Blaine met his eyes and they smiled, feeling just like all the couples.

When Kurt noticed that Blaine was still staring at him, Blaine leaned to nuzzle his neck, muttering how hot he was, before he slithered closer to kiss him and then things had gotten quickly heated. Moments later, the crowd was softly chanting in the background. "Work it, work it, work it." They seemed to be fascinated at watching two guys making out, but neither Kurt nor Blaine had noticed their audience, making out on the couch in the middle of a crowd of near strangers, completely unconcerned about who was watching them.

Kurt had worked one tail of Blaine's shirt out of his pants to put his hand on the soft skin of his waist, before working it up his chest, when he felt a nudge on his foot. It took a couple of progressively harder nudges to get him to pull off of Blaine's mouth with a noisy slurp. "What d'you want, Nick? I'm occupied jus' now." Kurt responded, with a one-sided squint Nick assumed was meant to be wink, and prepared to descend on Blaine's face again.

"Kurt, you guys are putting on a floor show for half the people here. Seriously not cool, dudes." Nick said in a low voice, looking around in dismay at seven or eight people watching his friends, like they were zoo animals putting on a show for their entertainment. Even more disturbing to Nick, were the ones who looked disgusted by them, hanging farther back in the corners, but audibly complaining at their display. Nick didn't know how far Blaine and his boyfriend would go and he didn't want to find out.

His interruption was not appreciated by some of their audience. "Get lost, you cockblocker! This is hot stuff. I want to see them get it going on!" Santana jeered, with a yank on his arm to shove Nick out of the way. Maybe he should just go find somewhere else to be, and not watch this train wreck unfolding. His buddy Jeff at least had the decency to find somewhere more private before he tried to get laid. These two were getting… God, he could hardly dare to look. It was like watching your brothers making out.

It was pretty obvious to everyone that Blaine was completely lost in the delights of Kurt's mouth and his body on his, past caring who was watching or where they were. He wanted to rip Kurt's clothes off and just…ugh, fuck him. He wanted, he wanted... His bones felt like they were glowing, and he felt taut with desire for Kurt, who thank god, finally wanted him back.

"Split dude. The ladies are enjoying the show." A frightening looking individual with a Mohawk told Nick, sounding personally invested. Nick was frustrated at being the only one who was trying to stop them. He tried one last time.

"Blaine! Dude, cool it. I know you wouldn't do this if you were sober. Kurt, are you sure you want to do this here in public?" Nick tried Blaine's boyfriend again, but decided quickly that he wasn't going to get Kurt to stop ravishing Blaine. Geeze, he'd thought Kurt was the shy one, but he was like, all over Blaine! Mercedes choose that moment to come up behind Nick, wondering what all the commotion was about, sliding one arm around his waist to steady herself. Nick gratefully let out a sigh of relief, then his head darted to where he heard a voice in the pause that followed her arrival.

"Jesus! Look at the fags, being all disgusting. I'm gonna throw up all over this pace, if they don't get the hell out of here. Finn, why did you let these guys in here?" A repulsed rumble was rising behind the voices of their audience. Two large hulking boys wearing red and white jackets were not shy about telling everyone they were revolted at Blaine and Kurt's display of affection, while Finn stood helplessly indecisive nearby. He didn't remember inviting those two to this party, either. There had to be ten or fifteen people here he hardly even knew. It was only when his football teammates pointed out the two boys making out, that he even noticed what they were doing.

He was torn at how to stop the trouble he sensed brewing. Crap! Rachel would kill him if he went all hostile on the two gay boys on the couch. But his two teammates would tell everyone at school he was a gay hugger if he did nothing, and probably stand back and let him be flattened the next time he got tackled in football, instead of deflecting them. He would have to do something to appease them, and try to defuse Rachel's temper afterward somehow.

He approached the couch, trying to decide how to interrupt the two boys trying to eat each other's faces off. God almighty, one of them was humping the other's leg the same way he did hers when he and Rachel made out. An instinctive flash of sympathy went through him, wishing he could leave them be. It made all kinds of sense to him that two guys would want to make out together, instead of making their boyfriends jump through hoops to get a little action, like his so-called girlfriend did. His view was suddenly blocked when Mercedes passed in front of him, her hand on her hip as she surveyed the two boys with wide eyes.

"Holy schmoley. Look at my boys going at it!" She said in shocked surprise. Nick glared at her in exasperation. That was the problem; _everyone_ was looking at them. She glanced at his distressed face, and agreed this was getting completely inappropriate. The Kurt she was getting to know was too shy to even look at a half-naked man in a magazine without blushing and here he was putting on a show in the middle of a party. She looked at her freshly mixed vodka and seven with the ice cubes floating on top, considered a moment, then extended her arm and carefully poured half of it into Kurt's lap, and the rest into Blaine's. "That ought'a cool em off." She muttered to herself in satisfaction.

It most certainly worked far better than she'd hoped for. Kurt let out an outraged squawk as he felt icy liquid cool his ardor, flailing ineffectually at his pants and sending ice clattering everywhere. Blaine sputtered in shock at the feel of cold liquid seeping into his jeans, belatedly becoming aware of a grumbling crowd around him, some seething with resentment at having their entertainment shut down and a small faction glaring at them with revulsion on their faces. Nick was laughing uncontrollably at Mercedes, who preened, rather proud of herself for finding such a simple and effective solution. The recent source of entertainment scrambled to their feet from the puddles they were sitting in, making very dismayed sounds.

Rachel swooped out of the crowd, babbling with indignation at possibly being blamed for Finn's mother's sofa being doused with booze. Mercedes assured her it was only a vodka and seven so it probably wouldn't stain too badly, not really too concerned about it any way. The couch had to be twenty years old, if it was a day.

"You grab that one" Mercedes directed Nick, as she hauled a stunned Blaine after her by one arm, hunched uncomfortably around his cold wet pants. Nick pulled on Kurt's arm, pulling him to follow after Mercedes and Blaine. They arrived in the laundry room, where Mercedes propped Blaine against the washing machine. Nick parked Kurt beside him against the dryer, where she proceeded to glare at them while she ripped a strip off both of them.

"Okay, you sluts, I shouldn't have to tell you that you do_ not_ hump each other in the middle of a party. Kurt, are you aware that you were undressing Blaine, in front of all my friends? There is nothing wrong with a little kissy-face but you were getting so far from PG. Geeze honey, that is so not like you." She propped her hands on her ample hips, fury incarnate, and waited impatiently for them to apologize.

Kurt merely looked back at her with horror dawning in his eyes at their behavior. "Oh my god." He whispered, turning his head to bury his shamed face in Blaine's shoulder. Blaine closed his eyes, hoping it would all go away when he opened them again. Holy crap, what a creep he was. He had promised Kurt not to push him, and then drunkenly jumped him at a party, where they hardly knew anyone. Really, _very _not cool.

"I'm so sorry, Mercedes. I…I'm… sorry." He mumbled, hardly daring to look at her. Kurt emitted a whimper from his shoulder, all he could manage in the way of apology, at this point.

'I think you guys should probably go home now. If you still want to, you can hump each other all you want there, in privacy." Mercedes added teasingly with a titter, her good humour restored. "Seriously, you're probably both too drunk to do much else. You made a hell of an impression on my friends though. I imagine you are welcome at any of our parties after that show, but tonight they're probably furious because I stopped you. Kurt, baby! My, oh my. Here I thought you were the shy one, but maybe I 'm wrong!" He peeked one eye out, glaring at her from where he was hiding, definitely not appreciating her humor, but not in any position to object. He just wanted to go home, and never face these people again.

"Um, I can't really leave here till I find Jeff." Nick added softly, wondering if being sober was the reason why he was the only one not trying to get laid among his friends. He seldom drank, but he tended to behave a lot more sedately than Blaine or Jeff, even when he did, mostly becoming far more talkative than usual.

"Okay, he was sucking face earlier with Quinn, wasn't he? Give me a minute and I'll flush him out. You get these two out to your car, and I'll send him out shortly." She wheeled and left, a woman on a mission. Nick grinned at her departing back. He liked Mercedes more and more, every day.

He grabbed an arm from each of his friends and made his way through the crowd to the steps, vaguely looking for Rachel and Finn to say goodnight, but they had both disappeared again. The girl was so small that she became invisible unless she was actually standing in front of you, but Finn should have been visible above the crowd. Then he spied the two large hulking boys watching them with a hateful expression on their faces, so he gave up dawdling and led his friends up the stairs. Luckily, he found Rachel in the kitchen refilling chip bowls, and said a quick goodbye, while still leading his two abject humble friends.

"We're heading out now, Rachel. It was great to meet you and please thank Finn for having us." Nick said politely as he continued to pull the boys toward the door. She smiled, and waved good night then tottered toward the stairs with two bowls in her hand, edging past the two football players coming up the stairs. Kurt suspected she would never let him meet her father's after his shameful behavior.

They had only reached the front door when he heard Mercedes from the upstairs hallway. "Geeze, some of you Dalton guys seem to have a terrible time keeping it in your pants. Quinn, surely you should know better, after what happened last year. If you do know better, its not nice to tease him. Do you even remember his name? Lordy!" She huffed, as she prodded them both down the stairs to the kitchen in front of her. Quinn was calmly smoothing her hair, and Jeff was trying to straighten his shirt, that seemed to have gotten cross-buttoned somehow, looking a bit dazed and flushed.

"It been _very_ nice to meet you...um, Jeff!" Quinn announced triumphantly, as she sailed regally down the next set of stairs, with a self-congratulatory smile. Jeff was about to follow her, when Nick hailed him, "Jeff! We're heading out now. Sorry buddy, but the party is over for you guys. You have all been very bad boys, but thank you, for at least taking her somewhere private." He added as an afterthought, perplexing Jeff.

"You're welcome? Why are we leaving? Are you mad because I hooked up with Quinn? Sorry dude, but I think that was more her idea than mine. I just went along with her. Why do I feel so used, Nick?" He asked plaintively, only half kidding while Nick herded him out the door with the other two boys. Quinn was very lovely but very intense. He found her kind of intimidating.

Kurt was still trying to compose an apology to Rachel for his behavior but suddenly found himself outside, without saying anything to her at all, lurching clumsily off the porch and catching on to Blaine, who staggered backward with him, giggling maniacally. "I gotcha", Blaine assured him between giggles, nearly falling himself as they twirled around each other clumsily. "Whoopsie daisy!"

"I gotcha both" Nick muttered good-naturedly, hauling them both upright again and leading them toward the car. Jeff was occupied behind him on the porch steps, straightening out his buttons, and tucking in his shirt, when he was rudely shoved out of the way by a couple of hulking jocks. He stuck his tongue out at their backs, and then forgot them.

Nick had opened the door and was watching his friends tripping over each other in amusement, preparing to get into the back seat of the car, when he was shoved out of the way, to land in a tumbled heap on the lawn. He was belatedly trying to figure out what had happened when he heard several loud meaty thuds, followed by grunts as they landed… oh my god, on Blaine! Kurt stood frozen in shock, off balance against the car, his face horrified. Blaine's arms were yanked back by one of the boys, while the other one hit him repeatedly, punching him in the gut with his voice alternating with his blows. "**You**…punch…**God**..._punch_…**damned**…_punch_ **disgusting**…_punch_ …**fags** …_punch _…**need**…_punch _…**to**… _punch_ …**die**… _punch_…

Kurt took an instinctive step forward to intervene, finally able to move his disbelieving body. It had only been a moment, but it felt like hours had gone by while he stood and watched in horror. "Let him go, you animals! You have no right to attack us." Kurt screamed shrilly, yanking forcefully on the right arm of the man punching Blaine, to weigh him down and slow him. He suddenly felt coldly sober, as he pulled with all his strength at the solid black boy hitting Blaine. Both boys paused in shocked surprise at Kurt's interruption, and released Blaine. Kurt was shocked to see he had actually been effective in stopping them. Their first target limply sagged to the ground, his arms crossed across his belly, and his bloodied mouth hanging open in stunned pain.

"Get off me, you goddammed faggot." The lout growled at Kurt, shaking him off easily, and turning to face him. They had chosen Blaine to attack first, because they'd heard he was from Westerville, an outsider to Lima.

"Blaine? Are you alright?" Kurt murmured in dread, falling to his knees, focused only on his injured boyfriend, when he felt a sharp flash of pain in his jaw, followed by his arm being bent back behind him. It was only then that he realized he was next in line to be attacked. He squirmed in terror, screaming in agony when he felt a sudden sharp snap in his arm. A wash of red dropped over his eyes, and he went limp, distantly aware that his arm had just been broken. He heard a grunt, and felt his arm suddenly released with a jerk, its uncontrolled dropping motion making him whine in agony.

He leaned against the fender of the car, rocking in pain, while he protectively cradled his arm, feeling, more than seeing Blaine collapsed onto the ground near him. The attack continued when the back of his head hit the car's fender when a foot came flying at him out of the night, leaving him with nowhere to retreat. The world went foggy, as he came close to losing consciousness, the pain from his arm all that was keeping him conscious.

There was a confused jumble of noises of further violence, but all Kurt could do was to crawl closer to Blaine, whimpering as he huddled over him there, helpless to protect him with anything but getting his body in the way. He heard Mercedes' voice rise in a screech of strident anger, and other raised voices when more and more people came out of the house.

A police siren whoopwhoopwhooped as it drove down the street, and suddenly most of the crowd dispersed like a mist in a wind. Kurt looked up, trying to blink his eyes clear, to see Nick sitting on the back of one of their assailants with his arm wrenched up high behind him, while Finn, Jeff and Mercedes wrested clumsily with the other one a few feet away, desperately trying to keep him from escaping in a panic, when the police car arrived. He let out a sigh of relief, eternally grateful someone had finally come to their assistance, and let his mind go back to Blaine, who was lying on the ground unmoving.

_A/N: I know. I know. I'm sorry. I hate doing this to them, but stay tuned for the next update, for the fallout from the attack._


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: My poor boys. I have no idea how this happened. I am so mean, but take heart. Things will improve quickly after this.**

**Chapter 6**

The policeman emerged from his car, ordering everyone to freeze right where they were, muttering to himself about the kids these days getting out of hand. It still took a few seconds for the guy with the kids hanging off him to stop squirming, but his persistent anchors hung on doggedly. The policeman approached them warily and asked what was going on, completely missing the two boys crumpled against the car. Kurt glanced toward the suddenly quiet house, risking another stab of pain behind his eyes and the world growing faint again, to see Rachel and a few others standing there on the porch, their faces aghast at what had happened under the yellow porch light.

"These Neanderthals crashed our party and were beatin' on my friends…the one Nick's got on the ground and this one. They were trying to kill them, officer. We were trying to stop them." Mercedes said, visibly trying to calm down, though she would have liked to kick these guy's marbles so hard they could taste them, for what they'd done to…

It was only then that she saw Blaine slumped unconscious on the ground, and Kurt huddled beside him, obviously injured. "Oh my god! Kurt, Blaine! They're hurt! Why haven't you called an ambulance yet, you meathead! " Mercedes dropped the arm she still had clutched in a death grip and ran to Kurt and Blaine. She saw the dark shadows of blood on both their faces, her vision now adjusted to the dark, and moaned in sympathy, feeling totally helpless to do anything for them.

The policeman came over and hunkered down beside them, straining to see them in the dim shadow of the car and felt for his flashlight. "Are you guys hurt? Do you need medical attention? Can you stand up so I can see you?" He grabbed Kurt's arm, probably to help him stand up, and jumped back again, startled by his screech of pain. Kurt nearly fainted in agony, but managed to emit in a high pitched tight voice, gritting through his teeth. "Broken, broken, broken! Please don't touch me!" He blinked several times, wondering why he couldn't see anyone very clearly, but didn't want to let go of his arm long enough to swipe his eyes. The policeman turned on his flashlight and quickly scanned the two boys, cursing in dismay. He used his shoulder radio to call for an ambulance and back up.

Nick got off Azimo's back and came closer, addressing the police officer directly. "I was about to take my friends home, when these two attacked us. They pushed me out of the way and hit Blaine first, that one hitting him repeatedly in the abdomen, while the other restrained him and then they attacked Kurt. I didn't see all of what exactly they did, but I know Azimo kicked him at least once in the head. Jeff and I tried to stop them, and distracted them. That one tried to escape when your car approached and Mercedes, Finn and Jeff caught him again, while I got an arm lock on this one. I believe Kurt might have a broken arm and Blaine might have internal injuries. They both need immediate medical attention, officer. I think you should charge them with gay-bashing or at least assault causing bodily injury."

The officer nodded at his concise recap, shaking head in disbelief at the damage some mere kids could do. He put Karofsky and Azimo in the back of his car, and asked everyone else to stay on the lawn where they were, until somebody could get to them to take their statements. He could hear the clink of glass inside the house as people did a quick clean-up of illicit alcohol, but the underage drinking was the least of his worries right now.

The boy on the ground wasn't moving and the other looked pale as death, close to passing out too. He wanted them evac'ed immediately. The last thing in the world he needed was this stupidity to turn into a homicide. Geeze, this was gonna be a ton of paperwork, so he needed to be meticulous in his notes. The boy had said they were gay-bashed. Christ, they were probably asking for it, if they were prancing around out here for anyone to see. He sighed, and got out his notebook and patiently started with the closest boy, the level headed concise one, wondering if he was gay too, since he said they were friends. He asked him for his particulars, while the girl fussed over the two injured kids.

Within moments, a distant siren heralded an ambulance. The two paramedics quickly assessed the injured boys. Blaine was gently lifted to the gurney, since he was determined to be the more serious injury, and quickly wheeled to the back of the unit, and then the other attendant returned to Kurt. He told her in a tight whisper that his arm was broken and anxiously begged her to be extremely careful of it. She asked him some questions about how he felt, as she immobilized it with Velcro straps, more worried about his profusely bleeding head wound.

She immediately noted that he smelled of alcohol and asked if he'd had anything to drink. Her patient readily admitted he had consumed several drinks, though he seemed quite lucid. He merely shook his head at her in confusion, when she asked if he'd done any other drugs – not unusual for a head wound, really. When she gently felt down his humerous from his shoulder, he gasped and went rigid and begged her again to leave him alone. He was very pale and starting to quiver with shock, so she asked if he thought he could walk to the unit, before he passed out on her. He stood with her assistance, wobbling a bit as the world went faint and grey, and slowly walked to the ambulance, until she steered him to sit on the fold-down rumble seat beside his friend. If he could stay conscious and upright, they wouldn't have to wait for another unit to transport him.

"Blaine?" He immediately leaned over the other boy in concern, hissing with pain and biting his lip at the unintentional movement of his arm. "Is he alright?" He looked at her pleadingly, his eyes glowing blue in the mess of gore his face wore. She was glad to see her patient was still lucid, despite his appearance, as she readjusted the temporary sling over his shoulder to gently support his arm.

She shrugged in answer, not sure yet what was going on with the other boy. He appeared to be unresponsive. Her partner had unbuttoned his patient's blood soaked shirt, to reveal several prominent contusions in his abdomen, where he had probably been hit, one of them right over his spleen. Hmm. They needed to get back to County pronto. She glanced to her partner, saw his confirmation of her assessment and quickly buckled in her patient for transport. He could wait for further treatment until they got back to base.

"We're taking you to the hospital to be checked over. Do you have a phone? Maybe you could notify your parents, and his, if you know their number, to meet us there?" She helped him to get his phone out of his rather tight pocket, and watched him dial it with one hand while she slammed the back doors, got into the unit and flicked the siren on. Speed was essential if that kid was bleeding into his abdomen.

Kurt managed with no little difficulty to reach Burt. He disjointedly told him they were injured and on their way to the hospital. He managed to ask him to notify Blaine's parents too, and then the jostling of the rig over a bump made him go faint with pain again. The phone dropped into his lap, his whole body gone weak with the pain, with Burt's panicked squawking still distantly audible. He was beyond answering him just now, entirely focused on staying conscious to watch over Blaine.

The next half an hour was a jumbled confusion to Kurt. He dazedly watched the paramedic with Blaine taking readings and inserting needles with tubing into his arm, until they arrived at the hospital. Blaine was separated from him immediately, wheeled away while he was placed in a wheelchair and trundled away to a curtained area with a strange high- wheeled cot in it. He heard concerned voices and people rushing after Blaine and knew he was in serious condition. His arm throbbed painfully but he was quite willing to wait as long as necessary until Blaine was safe before he received attention.

The woman who had wheeled him to the curtained cubicle asked him if he could undress himself and get into the gown on the cot. He stared at her in frozen disbelief. "Please, go look after Blaine first. He's badly hurt and needs attention far more than I." He inhaled hard and braced himself to wait. He needed Blaine to be well again. He couldn't lose Blaine, or why was he even here?

The nurse reassured her patient. "Your friend is being cared for by our best team. Come on, I'll help you change." She gently pried Kurt's fingers off his arm in the sling, and heard him whimper, and push her away. "Oh…no. Please, don't touch me. I believe it's broken...I heard it snap, when my assailant twisted it." He protested weakly, pushing her hand away from him defensively.

"Honey, we have to get you out of your clothes and checked over by the doctor. You could be badly hurt too, and the shock of the pain in your arm is keeping you from feeling it." She opened a cabinet and took out a pair of bent scissors, and advanced upon him. Kurt _really_ didn't want to be touched at all, and wanted even less to be undressed by a strange woman, but she'd had lots of experience dealing with reluctant patients and brooked no argument.

She kneeled to remove his shoes first, and gently undid the sling, but continued to supporthis arm with her free hand. Before he could react, she had slit the top of his sleeve from shoulder to wrist, exposing his arm with his bicep area bruised, swollen and purple. She quickly snipped through his collar and then replaced the sling before she eased his ruined lovely new shirt off his other arm, leaving him bare from the waist up. She tightened the sling again gently, making him go white with pain again, and whimper pitifully.

She gave a shake to the hideously coloured and patterned gown, put his good arm through it and tied the strings behind his neck, leaving his injured arm covered underneath it. She urged him to stand up and quickly reached under the gown to undo his button and lower the zipper, before she aimed him at the gurney.

"Back towards the bed now, Kurt." She murmured to him as she efficiently pulled them down and suddenly he was wearing only his socks and the gown. She raised the head of the bed, and helped him turn to stretch out by lifting his legs, before she covered him with a sheet. She watched as he closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief, too dazed and shocked to object to almost anything she did. It was the quiet ones who were usually more seriously hurt. The noisy ones, you didn't have to worry about so much.

She busied herself bustling around him, wrapping a BP cuff around his good arm and inserting a temperature probe into his mouth and filling out his chart. She drew some blood quickly from his undamaged arm, but he still didn't react, barely aware of what was happening anymore. Kurt was praying groggily that all their resources would be directed toward Blaine so he would recover. He had no idea what was happening to him, blinking lights and beeping from the strange machinery everywhere confusing him, but he really wasn't worried about himself at all. He had read a little about hospital funding being cut, but he hoped Blaine was in capable hands in spite of the dire predictions of the article.

He floated in a fog of pain until he heard a familiar voice anxiously asking the attendant at the desk where his son was, and then Burt's very welcome familiar face appeared, holding back the curtain. Burt's flustered face looked more worried than he'd ever seen it.

"Kurt! Are you alright? Jesus, what the hell happened? You're covered in blood! Where's Blaine? What happened, for god's sake?" Kurt immediately reacted with panic about Blaine.

"Is Blaine alive? Is he alright? Do you know where they took him? Please Burt, find out where he is!"

Burt came nearer to the bed to take Kurt's hand, and saw it was clutching his gown, with white knuckles. Where was his right arm...? under the gown? He put his hand on his shoulder instead. "Shh. Calm down buddy. They won't know much yet about his condition. They're still checking him over, I think. What's with your arm?" He narrowed his eyes at the arm Kurt was cradling with his left hand, hidden beneath the gown.

The nurse interrupted, answering Burt's inquiry. "His arm is probably broken. He's supposed to go to x-ray, as soon as the porter comes to get him. Are you his father? If so, we'll need some information from you, as soon as you have a minute." She smiled at him reassuringly.

Burt nodded absently and put his hand on Kurt's hair, to smooth it back comfortingly, and encountered crusted blood. Most of his face and neck were covered in dried blood. "Can we wash off some of this blood? " He asked the nurse softly, the sight of the boy he had quickly learned to love covered in blood making him go cold with worry. Kurt winced when he quirked his brow at him in confusion. What blood? Was that why his head hurt so much? Had he…? Yes, he distinctly remembered a foot coming toward his head.

He raised his hand to feel his temple and the nurse caught it, stopping him. "Don't touch it please, Kurt. We'll wash it off a bit, but I don't want you to touch your head. We don't know yet what's going on there either, until we get the results of your tests." She opened a paper-wrapped package, squirted a liquid into a bowl, and put it on a wheeled table she positioned nearby. She wet some gauze pads in it and gently wiped off the worst of the blood from his face and his eyes, but avoided the contusion itself. Now he knew why his vision had been clouded; it had been obscured by his own blood.

The porter arrived then and briskly wheeled his entire cot away, the overhead lights making him squint in pain, as he rolled down the hallway, with only the squeak of a wheel to announce his passage until his arrival at x-ray. Burt wanted to come with him, but the nurse asked him to fill out some paperwork instead, concerning Kurt's medical coverage. It suddenly occurred to Kurt that this hospital stay was likely to be expensive. He began to fret over that too, worried that Burt might not have the money he would need.

His fretting was interrupted by the technicians shifting him to a cold hard table and brusquely shifting his arm into the various positions they wanted, while he moaned helplessly in pain. A huge machine whirred over several areas of his body, but he hardly noticed through the haze of pain. He was repositioned again and again, as they tortured him for what seemed hours but was really only minutes, until he was shifted back to his cot and rolled back to his previous cubicle, where Burt waited for him impatiently.

Burt smoothed his hair back again gently, comforting him as the pain in his arm receded a bit, and he closed his eyes, in an effort to subdue the pain in his head, which was threatening to burst open. Burt reflected that adopting Kurt had brought him both great happiness and great sorrow. Seeing Kurt hurt and frightened was possibly the worst feeling in the world. In such a short time he had developed an intensely protective feeling about this sweet sensitive boy…and his boyfriend. God, he hoped Blaine was gonna be okay too.

"Kurt, what happened? Can you tell me how you got hurt?" Burt asked him softly, his hand smoothing his hair again. Kurt licked his dry lips, and tried to gather his senses enough to answer. Burt glanced at the nurse, about to ask her for some water, but she guessed what he wanted and shook her head regretfully. He understood her and nodded back. Okay, yeah, not until they knew if his boy needed surgery.

Kurt's voice began, faint but clear and calm, "Jeff, Nick, Blaine and I went to a party that Mercedes' friends were having. We were all having a good time, dancing and stuff. Then Blaine and I…." Kurt's eyes squeezed shut harder, and winced, his memories causing him even more pain. "I guess we were making out...with other people around...watching us. Two guests took offence and...and…" his voice faded away, losing the thread of what he was saying.

He felt like he was floating high in the air, and opened his eyes to lean over a bit to check the distance to the floor, to see if he really was. It seemed a long way down. He shifted back and winced in pain again, starting to worry about falling out of the narrow bed and hurting his arm even worse. "Dad, I don't want to be hurt anymore." He mumbled faintly, his frightened voice sounding far younger than his years. The nurse paid no attention to his rambling, assuming Kurt was speaking to the man she believed was his father.

Burt's mouth hardened, guessing the rest of the story. He realized Kurt was losing his grip on reality if he was talking to his father. If his boys were beaten up because they were gay, he was gonna have those gorillas' asses on the line, he promised himself. The nurse came around to Burt's side of the bed then, softly asking him for access to her patient. She started a line in Kurt's left forearm to give him fluids to combat his shock and keep his blood pressure from getting too low. It would also save time, if they needed to operate on him.

A middle aged Asian woman pushed aside the curtain briskly as she entered the cubicle, her scrubs and dangling stethoscope not marking her as anyone different than the first nurse, until Kurt's attendant began to give her a run-down on her patient's condition. She listened to the nurse's voice absently as she checked Kurt's chest, and palpitated his abdomen, then felt down his arms and legs, and then his skull and neck, making him wince and flinch a bit. Kurt tolerated her examination until she touched his broken arm, when he whined high in pain. She left him alone after that, and he let out a sigh of relief. She asked Burt what had happened, and Burt told her, as much as he could. She flipped some papers on a clipboard, reading the results of his tests presumably, her face inscrutable.

"Can you give him something for the pain?" Burt asked her, concerned at Kurt's obvious discomfort.

"Not yet. I need the results of his blood tests first. He told the paramedics he had been drinking, and I need to know if he'd done any other drugs before I can give him anything. His arm is badly broken in a spiral fracture, so that will need to be set in surgery as soon as the Osteo specialist gets here. He also has a concussion, so we'll need to watch him tonight for a brain hemorrhage. Has he any other medical conditions I should know about, before we send him to be prepped for surgery?" Her tired voice inquired of Burt, completely flat of any inflection. Burt knew that Kurt was just another patient to her, but he was his boy.

"Kurt does _not_ do drugs. He may have had a few drinks, but he isn't a heavy drinker either. I want him to have pain meds as soon as you can give them. He does not need to suffer any more than necessary. Do you know anything about his boyfriend yet? Is Blaine alright?"

She glanced up at him in surprise. "He's gay?" Burt nodded confirmation.

"That would be the sort of thing I need to know, in case he's HIV positive. We're testing for that too, but the results can take a while." She said drily, making a starred notation at the top of Kurt's chart like he was a Typhoid carrier, or something.

"Blaine and he have barely done any more than kiss, so far. They're barely seventeen and neither of 'em is promiscuous. I don't think you need to worry about HIV." Burt said in exasperation, maybe bending the truth a titch, but he was confident that the doctor was overreacting.

She defended herself, cynically. "You would be surprised what teenagers can be up to without their parent's knowledge, Mr. Hummel. Very few of them inform their parents they are sexually active. The tests are standard procedure for anyone over twelve, in any case. His, ah…boyfriend is still in surgery. I can't tell you any more than that. I will order a small dose of pain medication for him, until we know what else he has on board." She left the room abruptly, making Burt wonder if he'd made an enemy. He didn't want Kurt to suffer because Burt had implied she was uptight about gay boys. Maybe he had overreacted a bit too, defensive about the boys he was very fond of.

Burt waited with Kurt until the porter came to retrieve Kurt again to take him to surgery, then trailed along beside him, until the porter showed him where to wait. He watched the cot rolling away from him, taking an increasingly groggy Kurt away, and felt his heart heavy with worry. He told himself Kurt would be fine. He was in the best place he could be and they would take excellent care of his son…his son! God, how could he ever have guessed how much that boy would mean to him, in such a short time.

He went to the waiting room and found a chair, knowing he was in for a long wait. There was another couple there, waiting anxiously too. It took him a few seconds, but the woman's hair was a dead give-away, just like Blaine's black curls. "Excuse me. Are you Blaine's parents? Have you heard anything about how he is? God, he's gotta be alright. Both of them gotta be alright." Burt said fervently, sounding like the prayer it was.

Ed looked up at the man dressed haphazardly in work pants, a faded green t-shirt with a flannel shirt mis-buttoned over it and wearing bedroom slippers. "You have got to be Burt Hummel. I'm Ed Anderson and this is my wife, Elianna. I'm pleased to….no. No, I'm _not!_ It's good to meet you, Burt, but I'm sorry it was like this. We haven't heard anything yet about Blaine's condition, other than their initial diagnosis. They think he has abdominal bleeding from a splenetic fracture, whatever that means. How is Kurt doing?"

He sounded to Burt like he really wanted to know, like he cared about Kurt's condition. His wife had been crying, but she sat up and sniffed softly, waiting anxiously for Burt's reply too. Burt half smiled at their obvious concern. Of course Blaine's parents were decent people. A sweet kid like Blaine didn't come from nowhere. "He's got a badly broken right arm and a concussion they want to keep an eye on. He's in surgery now too, getting his arm set. Blaine has gotta be okay too. I'm kinda fond of that boy, and Kurt is pretty much crazy about him." He smiled at them ruefully. If you could believe those two boys, these people would one day be Kurt's in-laws. And he would be Blaine's father in law. He smiled, thinking about his boys getting married. He could see it happening one day, no problem.

Elianna smiled at Burt, though her eyes still retained the sadness and worry. "Thank you. We're rather fond of Kurt too. He's such a sweet boy, and I wouldn't have chosen anyone else for Blaine's first boyfriend." Burt smiled back at her, wondering if they had told Blaine's parents they believed they were star crossed lovers, and meant to spend their lives together.

The hours passed slowly, the clock crawling from one thirty, to two, two thirty and then three o'clock, while they took turns pacing and flipping through ancient magazines . It was ten to four when a nurse came in to say Kurt was out of recovery and being sent to his room, and asked if Burt wanted to follow her there. He leapt up to follow her and then paused to say to Blaine's parents. "Give me a call and let me know how Blaine is doing. I'm sure Kurt is going to want to know first thing when he wakes up. This isn't over yet. We are gonna prosecute those two gay-bashers to the full extent of the law, if it's the last thing I do. Nobody beats on a Hummel or his boyfriend." He spoke in a low and very serious voice, then turned to follow the nurse.

Ed nodded silently, somewhat taken aback at the resolute tone of Burt's voice. The man looked amiable and harmless, but his son had been attacked and now his attackers would pay. Ed glanced at his wife, in full accord with Burt's intentions. Elianna took his hand, thinking only about when she would see her son again. Vengeance could wait until Blaine was safe and well, as far as she was concerned.

It was nearly another hour before a tired-looking nurse came to get the Andersons. Blaine was in intensive care now, they were told, still unconscious, and still very, very pale when they were allowed in to see him. The surgeon stopped by to check on him, and told them he had saved Blaine's spleen, though it had been a close call. There had been a number of slow leakages from numerous cracks caused by the impacts of the blows, and it had taken a while to stop them all, but unless something sprang a leak in the first twelve hours, he should recover well enough after that. He was young and healthy, he said lightly, so he would remain in ICU for the next day, in hospital for several more days, and when he was recovered enough, would transition home, with possibly a blood transfusion or two in outpatient if his counts were slow to rise. They nodded their understanding, intensely grateful to have their son back with a hopeful prognosis.

The nurse murmured after the surgeon left that Blaine would remain unconscious for several more hours, so if they wanted to go home and get some rest, they could return later and his team would take excellent care of him in the meanwhile. Ed had to talk Elianna into it, but she finally left Blaine there sleeping, his monitors beeping faithfully, after she kissed him goodbye. Ed awkwardly patted his son's pale hand for a moment, too self-conscious to kiss him while his wife and the nurses watched, but very, very grateful he would be alright. At the last moment, he bent and left a quick kiss on his cheek, the first for about ten years, then left quickly, Ellie's hand tucked into his.

Kurt woke up briefly in the darkened room he'd been assigned, groggily seeing Burt slumped beside his bed, dozing fitfully as he waited for him to regain consciousness. Kurt smiled at him, comforted by his presence, though his arm throbbed agonizingly in its heavy wet cast. It took a few seconds for the reason for him being there to sink in. Blaine!

He shifted, trying to sit up, and let out a yelp of pain. Burt snuffled and sat up suddenly, taking his good left hand in his. "Kurt! How are ya buddy?" He stood and smiled down into Kurt's eyes, the worry in them plain to see. Kurt tried and failed to answer, his throat dry as dust. Burt immediately retrieved a water cup with a straw and leaned it into Kurt's mouth. He sucked eagerly, the lukewarm water tasting better than anything he'd had for weeks, rehydrating his completely parched throat. Burt made him take a break after a bit, smoothing his hair back again with a loving smile. He must look a disaster, but he didn't care.

"Easy buddy. It ain't going anywhere. I'll give you some more soon. Just take a break for a second and take stock. How are you feeling?" He sat in the chair again, waiting to hear Kurt's answer, but he left his hand resting on Kurt's good arm, as if he had to keep hold of him.

"Blaine, how is Blaine? Do you know if he's all right?" Kurt whispered anxiously, his voice hoarse. Burt shrugged helplessly. He hadn't heard anything from the Andersons yet, but he consoled Kurt that he was operating under the assumption that no news is good news.

'I…guess you would have heard if he'd …." Kurt closed his eyes and inhaled hard, refusing to even contemplate it, then answered his question listlessly. "I feel sort of achy all over. My head hurts where I'm lying on it, and my jaw pains me something awful. My arm…my arm feels sort of…Burt! It's still there, isn't it? They didn't cut it off?" Kurt sounded completely panicked, remembering a neighbour who had fallen from his roof and broken his arm in several places, the bones jutting through his skin. The barber surgeon took it off at the shoulder, to prevent the massive infection that would have resulted and he had survived, wearing his sleeve pinned up thereafter. Kurt's arm seemed to weigh a hundred pounds and it hurt like the dickens, but Mr. Mallory said his amputated arm often hurt too, even though it was gone.

"Easy buddy, take it easy. Yes, your arm is still there. They set the break in surgery. The surgeon tells me you now have six screws and a platinum plate in there, so you're gonna set off the airport scanners if you ever fly, but he says you should have a complete recovery in a couple months. Geeze, they used to cut off broken arms? Man, I'm glad you're here now." Burt patted him comfortingly and then gave him another drink. Kurt sighed gratefully and closed his eyes to rest for a minute. The next time he opened them, it was late morning, and Burt was gone. The poor man must be exhausted, after staying up all night worrying about him.

Kurt couldn't help wishing he was there anyway, but told himself sternly to stop being such a child. He would doubtless return when he could. He had a business to run, for heaven's sake. It was only then that he noticed a boy in the bed across from his, playing with an electronic device. He appeared to be about twelve, and had a shock of unruly red hair. Kurt watched him silently until he couldn't wait any longer. His kidneys demanded that he visit the bathroom, and they would brook no further delay.

"Excuse me. Would you mind telling me where the bathroom is located? I need to make a visit to the facilities." The boy paused his game and grinned at him.

"Just push your bell, dude. You just got out of surgery a few hours ago, so I'd bet you aren't going anywhere, but they will give you a hand to go." Kurt frowned, wondering what he might mean, but looked over his head for a bell anyway. There was nothing similar to a bell in his view, silver, brass, or cast. The boy chuckled, then wriggled out of his bed, making a quick jump to the floor and walked toward his bed. He was quite short, but seemed very amiable, in Kurt's opinion.

"Here, this is it. Press the button and a bell rings at the desk, to call them here." He explained the operation of the bell patiently to Kurt and smiled at him, as he placed the cord in Kurt's left hand. "I'm Danny. I heard your dad call you Kurt when he talked to you this morning, right?" He hopped up on the bottom of Kurt's bed, happy to keep him company until the nurse came.

"That's correct. Kurt Hummel, at your service, Danny. Thank you for your assistance. You have no idea how much my bladder appreciates it." They smiled at each other for a minute while Kurt counted the minutes. Where were the porters? He had to go! He was thirsty again and his arm ached, but not enough to distract him from his urgent need to urinate.

"I can get you a can, if you really gotta pee bad." Danny offered observantly. He was an old hand at hospitals and hated having to pee in a can, but sometimes the nurses were busy and took too long to wait for them. Kurt had a desperate look about him that told him he couldn't wait any longer.

"Oh please, yes." Kurt gasped, gritting his teeth, ready to try any alternative. Danny chuckled again and went to their shared bathroom, returning with a blue jug with a narrow neck. Kurt blinked at it and wondered how he would manage with one hand. His gaze raised to his new friend pleadingly and Danny sighed and rolled his eyes. He peeled back the sheet and raised Kurt's gown, averting his eyes from the view on offer. Kurt positioned the can and gave a long sigh, as relief flowed freely. He carefully positioned the full jug so it wouldn't tip and tugged his gown down again, restoring his modesty.

"Thank you. I believe you have saved me from a mortifying fate usually suffered by infants of much younger years. I am much obliged to you sir." Danny looked perplexed and replaced the sheet.

"Geeze, you talk funny, like in an old movie. No sweat, man. Gotta help out a fellow prisoner, don't I?" He hopped back up on the foot of the bed, and casually asked Kurt how he broke his arm. Kurt was rescued from having to explain he'd been attacked by people who hated him when the nurse finally arrived, to find the problem had been solved by her favorite patient. She dumped Kurt's jug, leaving it in handy reach of Kurt's functional arm, for further emergencies.

"Thank you, big guy, for helping Kurt. Now get back to your own bed again. You may have been here long enough to run the place, but you are not allowed on other patient's beds and you know it. Scoot, sweetie." She watched Danny obediently hop back into his own bed, knowing full well he would be out of it again as soon as she left the room.

"And how are you doing today, Kurt?" She asked him with a smile, straightening his covers, disarranged by the recent maneuver.

"I'm as well as can be expected, I should say. Do you know how Blaine is doing? I really would appreciate a report on his condition." Kurt asked the nurse, pleading with his eyes, as she bustled around the room, refilling his water, checking his IV and placing a tray with several cups on the table before she rolled it in front of him.

"Who is Blaine? A friend of yours? I don't think we have anyone of that name on this floor. Do you know if he had surgery too? He could be on another floor, medicine or …" her voice trailed away as other less desirable options occurred to her. "Was Kurt in the same accident as you were, Kurt?" She asked lightly, trying to get some information without worrying her patient unduly.

"I was not in an accident, madam. Blaine and I were grievously assaulted last night, so of course I am most concerned about his condition. Is there anyone who can tell me how he is?" Kurt asked, before she abruptly advanced on him and asked him to open his mouth wide. He obeyed her request, hoping his cooperation would ensure hers and found a plastic probe had been inserted into his mouth. She took his blood pressure, as he watched in growing concern at the inflation of the cuff cutting off his circulation. The nurse, her badge informing him her name was Shelly, remained unconcerned and uncooperative, after she removed the probe from his mouth, and the cuff from his arm. She asked him to try some of his lunch, then gave him a final pat on the leg and disappeared.

"You and your buddy got beat up?" Danny asked from his bed, his voice sounding thunderstruck. "I thought you were in a car accident or something. Your face is a Technicolor mess, man. Why would somebody want to…were you mugged or something?"

Kurt looked at the innocent blue eyes of the boy and was reluctant to tell him what a rotten world it could be for people like him. He very probably had never been the unfortunate recipient of someone's unreasonable hate, for no reason he had any control over. Kurt had read about gay men being beaten and even killed by assailants in gay-bashings but _never _had he considered that it might happen to Blaine and him, in today's sleepy small-town Lima. On reconsideration, he'd not have been surprised to have suffered this fate in his Lima, had they guessed his orientation. He muttered to Danny that he'd rather not talk about it, staring into the near distance instead. Danny got the message, and went back to playing with his game.

Kurt managed to take a long drink of his water on his own, without soaking himself and then went back to sleep, hoping when he woke _someone_ would tell him how his boyfriend was. Or he would be far less cooperative, when next asked to open up his mouth. If necessary, he would track Blaine down and discover his condition himself, he resolved, wondering in retrospect, if he could even stand up unassisted.

His dearest wish was granted. When he woke up the next time, Elianna Anderson was at his bedside. He smiled at her gratefully, very ,very glad to see her. "Blaine?" He asked hopefully, only one subject on his mind.

"Blaine is still recovering in Intensive Care right now, but they said if nothing changes they will move him up to this floor later today. They repaired several tears in his spleen, so he needed some blood transfusions from the bleeding, but the doctor says he should be discharged in about a week. How are _you_ feeling Kurt?" She put her hand on his free arm, currently resting on his chest.

He closed his eyes in relief. Oh thank god! Blaine would recover. He wished he could reach her, to hug her, but the cast was still too weighty to move. He settled for a thankful smile. "I am so very appreciative that you came to tell me of his condition. No one would give me any information about him and I've been frantic with worry. I am doing well enough, I suppose. My arm hurts, and my head still aches but I will recover, I'm told."

Elianna smiled, charmed at Kurt's odd manner of speaking, sounding so formal. She fleetingly wondered what his parents were like, and was sad she would never know them. She glanced at his apparently untouched lunch tray, and her motherly instincts took over. "You are never getting out of here if you won't eat, young man. How about some pudding, or some juice?" She picked through the items on the tray, and discovered the milk was warm from sitting, since it was now four in the afternoon. Kurt made a face in response, completely uninterested in food. She gave him her best Mom glare and was pleased to see it worked on him too.

"Perhaps some juice then." Kurt conceded to appease her. She stuck a straw through the obstinate foil (How was a boy with one working hand supposed to get into this thing?) and held it for him, admiring his long eyelashes as he drank. He really was a cutie, when he looked up at you with those lovely eyes, even with a bruised and battered face. It was no wonder Blaine was crazy about him, with his sweet manners and loving heart. She could easily learn to love this boy, she suddenly realized. She dabbed unnecessarily at Kurt's mouth with a napkin, when he finished the lukewarm fruit punch, enjoying pampering him. He blushed at her attentions, but really didn't mind her staying. He liked Blaine's mother quite a bit. She was elegant, and thoughtful, and sometimes surprised him, just as Blaine did. The thought made him smile at her, and they shared a moment of peaceful harmony.

"Is there anything I can bring you to pass the time? Some books or music or a game?" She motioned to Danny, who was playing his electronic game again, politely ignoring them in the enforced proximity they shared.

"I don't think I can manage doing very much just yet, since I seem to fall asleep every time I close my eyes, but thank you for your kindness, in any case. I hope I may be allowed to visit Blaine when he returns home?" He looked up at her imploringly. It only now occurred to him that the Andersons might resent him, as the cause of their son being beaten up. If he had kept his libido under better control, their assailants would probably not have attacked them at all. A wave of guilt flooded over him.

"Of course you can come see him." She chuckled. "As if wild horses could keep you two away from each other. You are always welcome in our home, Kurt, I hope you know." She patted his arm comfortingly, as he exhaled a sigh of relief. Blaine's parents appeared to not harbour a grudge against him at all, but perhaps they were not yet aware of the circumstances of the attack. When it all came out, they might change their minds.

His anxiety was interrupted when Burt came into the room, holding flowers and a plastic grocery bag, smiling widely when he found Kurt awake. "Hey, buddy. You're awake! Feeling better now, are you? Hey, Mrs. Anderson. Its nice to see you too. How is Blaine today?" Kurt grinned at hearing his adoptive father asking about Blaine. He really liked his boyfriend too, it was clear to tell.

"He's steadily improving they tell me, though he isn't really conscious yet. He just mumbles and mutters occasionally, but they have him pretty doped up. They are going to reduce his meds this afternoon so I'm hoping he'll be more alert tonight. You're welcome to stop by and see him if you want. I can leave your name on the list of people allowed into Intensive Care, and give you the access code. Once they move him upstairs, he'll be fair game for all the kids who keep calling. I had no idea he had so many friends. The phone has been ringing all day, with people asking about him."

She laughed musically, making Kurt wonder what her singing voice sounded like. Is that where Blaine got his talent? Somehow, he couldn't imagine Ed singing. Kurt's father couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, his mother used to tease him, so there was no doubt where his talent came from. They talked for a bit, while Kurt tried to stifle a yawn. Burt eyed him, deciding this visit was going to have to end soon. He didn't want Kurt overtired. He seemed much more relaxed than he had earlier, no doubt because he had been reassured about Blaine's recovery.

"What lovely flowers! Shall I see if I can find a vase?" Elianna offered. Burt gave her the flowers gratefully, while he opened his bag of goodies to show Kurt. He'd brought a selection of magazines from Kurt's room, the book he'd been reading, his phone charger and earbuds, and a selection of fruit cups. Kurt was pleased at Burt's thoughtfulness but couldn't suppress another yawn. Elianna took the hint and left within a few minutes, after arranging the missed bouquet of spring flowers. Burt was about to leave too, when the abandoned lunch tray was exchanged for his supper tray.

Burt checked it out, grimacing at it sympathetically. Kurt snorted in amusement, agreeing wholeheartedly with his appraisal, though to be truthful, it could be ambrosia and he wouldn't want to eat it. "There's some beef soup here, Kurt. How about we take a stab at that?" Burt proposed brightly, trying to put as good a face on it as he could. Kurt nodded with resignation. He needed to keep up his strength so he could look after Blaine when he was home again.

He let Burt feed him, swallowing the nearly tasteless broth and limp overcooked vegetables obediently. He ate the applesauce next, and drank the orange juice and the milk. After that, he was obliged to ask for Burt's assistance with the jug again, and then subsided sleepily back into his pillow. Burt tucked him in, and then said the hell with it, to himself and kissed him on the forehead. Kurt blinked, and smiled contentedly, as he drifted away again.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Geeze, why are these such long chapters? Sorry about that. Okay most of the bad stuff is over and the good stuff starts again.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Kurt woke from that annoying procedure in the hospital where they woke you from a sound sleep to take your temperature and blood pressure readings, and then you're given pills to help you sleep. His arm and his head were still throbbing, but at least the medication made it recede so he could fade into slumber again, still exhausted by the events of the previous day. The next morning, he woke with his head clearer and his arm feeling attached to his body again. He had to go to the bathroom again very badly, so he appraised the distance to the doorway, and decided to make a break for it.

He first strained to shift the heavy unwieldy cast from across his chest, reawakening the pain in his arm that had been a distant throb until he'd disturbed it, then eased back the sheet and slid his feet out, as he pushed himself up with his good arm. He had to support his cumbersome arm across his lap with his other hand, its weight pulling at his throbbing shoulder, as he took stock of the rest of his body. His bare feet remained several inches from the floor, with most of his pallid legs exposed by the abbreviated gown he wore. Why were the beds so high you risked injury escaping them, he wondered? He slid carefully down the slope until his feet touched the icy floor and waited until his head stopped spinning. He stood upright slowly and took a wary step, suddenly aware of a draft where no breeze should blow. There was little to be done about that at this point, so he kept going, bridging the gap that had suddenly widened from a manageable eight or ten feet, to an interminable expanse.

Danny popped up in his bed, and apprehensively watched him lurch the rest of the way to the bathroom, in the process treated to a clear view of his naked arse. He triumphantly clutched the grab bar on the wall and breathed a sigh of relief at arriving undamaged. He closed the door, his elation tempered by surprise when he was left in total darkness. A tiny glowing red light was placed at his shoulder level, about where light switches were often positioned, so he pressed it hoping for the best. Voila, let there be light, harsh and brutal though the view was, when he first caught sight of himself in the mirror. His battered countenance featuring discoloured sunken eyes, a huge bruise on his chin and topped by his unkempt spiky hair gave him quite a start. No wonder everyone had looked so grateful to see him wake up. He looked ghastly, he decided, averting his eyes from the mirror to take care of his business.

It was impossible to wash one hand effectively, with the other hand having only the last three inches of his fingers peeping out. He appraised the bright blue cast with bemused interest. Immobilization of his broken limb as a decorative fashion accessory would have never occurred to him. He wondered how he would get his clothes over this ridiculously unwieldy cast, running all the way from his shoulder down to his palm with a forty five degree angle at the elbow. He raised his eyebrows in sardonic acceptance. When he remembered what happened to Mr. Malloy, he counted himself lucky to _have _an arm. The inconvenience was only temporary and he would manage somehow, he told himself.

He was about to open the bathroom door to return to his bed, when it was suddenly opened for him by a large matronly nurse, who was evidently quite annoyed at him for escaping his bed without her supervision. He was returned to it forthwith, deposited there with a stern warning not to try to escape without permission again, or _else_. He no alternative but to agree that he had been hasty and very, _very_ bad, and meekly promised to stay put, trying to ignore Danny grinning at him wider and wider the whole time. He didn't ask what dire consequences might occur should he reoffend, but the woman fairly terrified him. She took his temperature again, and his blood pressure, and watched critically while he downed his pills obediently, before she left his room with a huff of exasperation. He let out the breath he'd been holding once she was gone, while Danny threw himself back in the bed, and roared with laughter.

"Hahahaha! Oh my god, you are such a _wuss_, Kurt! Miss Balmer hasn't killed anybody yet, that I've ever heard of. I get out of bed all the time, and every single time she just tells me to go back and stay put when she catches me. She really loves to put the fear of god into people and man, you just made her feel like God herself. Thanks for the laugh, buddy. I can sure use it today." Danny sat up and crossed his legs again, while wiping his eyes, his jubilant reaction to Kurt's humiliation suddenly evaporated.

"Why today, in particular?" Kurt asked his usually cheerful roommate curiously.

"Because my blood work is the pits and I have to start chemo again. My leukemia has officially relapsed." Danny gave him a sad face and then picked up his game again and began to play it, ignoring Kurt's horrified reaction. He didn't want to talk about it either, it seemed.

Kurt recognized the key word in Danny's confession… Chemo was a treatment for cancer. This sweet young boy who had his whole life ahead of him, had _cancer_? Where was the justice in children having cancer? Kurt suddenly felt far less sorry for himself, at having only been beaten. He would recover, and so would Blaine. Danny might not survive to be fine again.

"I'm so sorry, Danny." Kurt offered softly, unable to offer more than that. Danny just shrugged, not sparing him even a glance. There was nothing to be done about it, so he would deal with it as best he could. He wasn't looking for pity.

Their breakfasts arrived shortly afterward, dropped onto their bed tables somewhat reminiscent of the way pigs were slopped in Kurt's time. Depressing as they were, his unappetising meals had quickly turned into one of the events that punctuated his day. Today, Kurt's tray featured gluey oatmeal and applesauce, with a side of yogurt, and half of a banana lying decapitated on the tray. At least the yogurt was peach, his favourite flavour, he consoled himself drily. He had to tear off the lids with his teeth, and spilled the applesauce on his gown but he got most of his food in himself without any assistance. He drank the milk, and the tiny container of juice and realized he had just decimated the entire tray. It would appear his appetite was returning.

Shelly, his nurse from yesterday, breezed in then and informed him he was now off of bed rest and could go to the bathroom unassisted, smiling brightly at him when she saw his emptied tray. He rolled his eyes in exasperation to Danny, who smirked at him with a freshly irrepressible smile. It had been less than an hour since Miss Hammer had reamed him royally for doing exactly that. He might even be released today, Shelly added casually. Being released to go home _was_ excellent news, but…he was really rather hoping to see Blaine today, if he really was to be transferred up here. Once he was sent home, Kurt suspected seeing Blaine would become far more difficult, until he was home too.

His reservations dissolved when Shelly announced the best news of all, which she had saved for last. "Oh, and your friend Blaine was transferred up here a little while ago. They're still getting him settled in for the next few minutes, but you could go see him after that if you want." Kurt could have kissed her, he was so happy to hear the news. She smiled back to him in response to his beaming smile.

Danny had been unavoidably listening to her. "Hey Shelly, if Kurt is going out can you show him where to find a robe, before he flashes the whole floor? I already got to see more of him than I wanted to this morning." Danny's laughter and teasing inferred that he was not actually much disturbed about occasional flashes of butt, after enduring so much time in hospitals. He just enjoyed teasing Kurt, and grinned delightedly at the lovely blush flooding his roommate's face.

Shelly nodded absently, sparing him a quick smile, as she prepared to take his blood pressure and temperature again. "Sure. I'll get you one, and then I can show you where your friend is." Kurt couldn't help his smile widening at the prospect of seeing Blaine.

Danny smiled back at him, assuming Kurt was pleased by being set free. "Can I come along too, Shelly? I'm so bored."

Shelly nodded agreeably. She had heard the bad news about Danny's relapse, and couldn't help spoiling him a bit. He was their favorite pet on the floor. "Just don't touch anything while you're out there. If you get sick, it's my butt on the line, buddy." She chucked him under his chin on the way out of their room, and he nodded at her.

Shelly returned with robes for both of them to put over their gowns, and helped Kurt to sit up to don it. Kurt was severely disappointed in his robe. It very much resembled his hideous gown, but since it was worn the other way around, with the opening at the front, it at least effectively covered his arse. Danny's robe covered him nearly to his ankles, but Kurt's barely covered his knees, leaving him feeling far too exposed for his comfort. But, for Blaine, he would appear half dressed if he had to, to be able to see him. He was nearly vibrating with excitement, after almost losing his boyfriend forever, though he was relieved to see that he was much less wobbly, after eating his all of his breakfast.

Shelly peeked into the corridor, playfully pretending she was staging a jailbreak, and led their convoy slowly down the hall. Danny stuck close to Kurt's left side and Shelly remained comfortingly close on the other, no doubt to assure his safety on his first sanctioned venture out of bed, and he rather appreciated their consideration. Shelly led them leisurely down the hall, around a bend and into a room that looked almost exactly like theirs, except for the crib placed on the right side of the room.

That crib could never be occupied by his boyfriend, short though he admittedly was. Several comments came to mind that he knew Blaine would not at_ all_ be amused by, so Kurt resolved to never utter them. Danny gently drew back the half opened curtain pulled around the other occupant of the room and saw only a tousled head of dark curls on the pillow. This must be Kurt's friend Blaine that he was so concerned about.

"Danny, would you mind showing Kurt the way, when he's ready to go back to your room? I have to go check meds. Behave please, do not touch anything, and do not make me sorry I let you both out." She left the room with a bright smile for both of them.

Kurt smiled at Blaine's tangled nest of hair, at its absolute worst after a rabid homophobic attack, surgery and two days of bed rest, as he approached the bed. He saw a tray on Blaine's table that looked much like his did yesterday. Juice, pudding and milk, all of them ignored, also just as his was. He leaned closer into the bed, and saw Blaine's lashes resting against his pale cheeks, his eyes closed in either rest or repose, and was unable to stop his hand rising to caress his hair lovingly. Blaine's eyes opened sleepily and his face broke into a smile. "Kurt!" he whispered, his voice rough with disuse.

"How are you feeling, honey?" Kurt said softly, leaning closer to his boyfriend.

"I feel like a piece of dog crap that somebody stepped in and scraped off again. What the hell happened, Kurt? I went to a party with you and now I'm in a hospital bed, with my guts about to spill out through a zipper. What hit me? Oh no, heeey, it looks like it hit you too, my beautiful boy. Honey, are _you_ alright?" Blaine tried to sit up to check his boyfriend for injuries, his impulse aborted as he winced in pain, and then slumped back down defeated. "Ow, ow, ow. _Fuck_ that hurts."

Kurt's hands clapped over Danny's ears at Blaine's language, surprising him intensely. "Blaine, there are young ears here. This is my roommate, Danny. Oh, please don't try to get up, honey. You just had major abdominal surgery." He spoke disapprovingly, and then realized he was scolding the boy he had yearned to see for two whole days, worried half to death about whether he was alive or dead. "Oh never mind, he will likely learn worse ones. I'm just so relieved to finally see you, Blaine. You really don't remember what happened? Didn't your parents tell you?"

Blaine shook his head, his confusion plain to see on his face. "I was pretty much out of it until this morning so I don't think I would remember much, even if someone had told me yesterday." He raised his hand weakly, searching for Kurt's. Kurt reached to take it with his functional hand, running his thumb over Blaine's knuckles, grateful that he could finally see and touch his boyfriend.

Danny had the sudden realization that these guys were _not_ just buddies. Honey? Beautiful boy? Ah, nooo, that was not a normal way to address your friends. Shelly would be annoyed if he left Kurt on his own, so he was gonna stick it out here, though he was a little intimidated at realizing his friend Kurt was gay and Blaine was his…geeze, his boyfriend.

Kurt took a deep breath and prepared to enlighten his boyfriend in how he had been attacked and injured. "We were leaving the Hudson residence, rather in disgrace after …" he glanced at Danny, and edited his story somewhat. "Ah, Nick was standing at the car with us, and Jeff had lingered on the porch for some reason. The first indication of trouble I had, was when Nick was tossed summarily out of the way when two of the McKinley football players took exception at us expressing our affection … and then they attacked you. They…oh my god, Blaine! I'll never forget the sound of it." Kurt had closed his eyes, hiding from the image his words had evoked. He felt Blaine's fingers squeezing his and opened them again to see Blaine looking at him, his face still questioning.

"One of them held you and the other hit you, again and again. I tried to stop the one who was attacking you and suffered his retribution for daring to object to my boyfriend being assaulted. He broke my arm and kicked me in the head, among other things. At that point I seem to have lost touch with what was happening myself but I think several of our friends and acquaintances intervened on our behalf. I know I saw Nick, Jeff, Finn and even Santana and Mercedes assail our attackers to distract them, before the police arrived. An ambulance brought us both here shortly afterward."

"Blaine, I was so frightened. I believed you might be dying, and it seems I wasn't much mistaken. You were bleeding into your abdomen, and required several hours of surgery to repair the damage, or you would have died." Blaine was staring at Kurt in disbelieving horror, clutching his hand so hard, his fingers hurt. Kurt swallowed hard, regretting the necessity of reminding Blaine of the attack, if he'd managed to banish it from his memory.

"Our assailants are currently under arrest, I have been assured, though I haven't asked what the charges were. Attempted murder would not be unreasonable option." Kurt added drily.

"Kurt, they broke your am? And kicked you in the head? … oh my god, look at your beautiful eyes. Please, can you come here and hold me? I can't reach you." Blaine had to reassure himself that Kurt was still whole and beautiful, in spite of the bruises. Kurt leaned into the bed, and carefully pulled his boyfriend into his functional arm. Blaine sighed contentedly, and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, ignoring the pain from his incision. They held on to each other briefly, until the ache in Kurt's shoulder became too painful, and he had to pull back. Blaine let his hand rest on the cast, a shiver of horror running over him at the thought of Kurt being attacked, while he was helpless to protect him. He had pledged to protect him from exactly this, and he had failed miserably. His eyes filled with tears of regret.

"I'm so glad you're going to be okay. Kurt I love you, so much. Could you kiss me, just quickly, and tell me you forgive me? I know you're hurting too, so just make it a quick one. I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you from this." Kurt looked at him sadly. He leaned over and brushed Blaine's lips lightly to reassure his boyfriend, lingering for only a second, then stood up again with a hiss of discomfort, beginning to look forward to returning to his bed again.

"I don't blame _you,_ silly. You took the brunt of the attack, in any case. The die had already been cast when we indulged in regrettable behavior in front of two people who refuse to concede our right to behave just as …well, poorly as the other couples there. And at least now they will suffer the extent of the law for their illegal behavior, while ours was merely in poor taste."

"Please Blaine, rest assured that I still love you. Now you have your kiss, so you need to get some more rest and I'll be back to see you again later. Is there anything you want from your tray just now? Are you thirsty?" Kurt asked him wearily. Blaine shook his head no, his eyes already sinking closed again.

Danny nudged him, indicating the bag hung on Blaine's bed, and the IV in his arm. "He's got a catheter and he's getting fluids intravenously, so he's okay to sleep for a while." Danny glanced at Blaine and smiled sadly, feeling mostly sorry he'd been nearly killed. "I'm glad you're gonna be okay, dude. Kurt's been worried sick about you."

He grinned at Kurt then, his irrepressible good humor re-emerging, suddenly not uncomfortable with the two gay guys any more. He'd never knowingly met anyone gay before and it seemed to be no big deal now that he had. Kurt was just a regular dude who loved another regular dude, so what was the problem with that? The boys in his class, at least when he _went_ to school, called each other fags all the time, like it was the worst thing in the world. Now that he'd met a couple of them, he had lost all fear of being called that and swore to himself that he would never again use that word as a slur …_if_ he ever got to go to school again.

He led Kurt slowly back to their room, and helped him lie down in his bed again. Danny was tired too, after their little excursion, so they both had a nap, like they were little kids. There was no shame in napping, if the big kids did it too. Kurt woke up when his lunch tray arrived, quickly ate the tasteless food, and returned to Blaine's bedside to cajole him into eating his broth soup and tapioca pudding. He was still there, slumped against his bed and holding Blaine's hand when Elianna came in to visit her son. Kurt was embarrassed at his appearance, with his pale bare legs exposed, and his face and hair a macabre sight, but she seemed to take no notice, at first. Kurt assumed of course, that all her attention would be focused on her son.

Kurt learned that wasn't true, when she surveyed his drawn face, exhausted after being up and out of his bed again for almost two hours. She peremptorily escorted him back to his room, and settled him back into his bed, saying he could return to Blaine's room only after he had a nap. He was still resentfully seething at being treated like an invalid, when he suddenly stopped complaining, and fell abruptly asleep. She smiled and returned to Blaine's room to find he was taking a nap too. At least, while they were sleeping, she knew they were safe.

Blaine woke up an hour later when Jeff and Nick came to visit him, both of them holding flowers and a card. They were discomfited when Blaine thanked them sincerely for saving his life and Kurt's, but had to admit it was probably true that they had. Jeff left Blaine a card and a flowering plant for his window, and Nick presented him with some comic books, though they said the other flower plant and comics were for Kurt. Nick told Blaine then that the police had interviewed him and Jeff, and taken their statements. Finn was in a _world_ of trouble with his mother, though the police said he wouldn't be charged because of the underage drinking at the party, since he was underage too. They left again when Blaine's mother, judging from his exhausted face, told them he needed to rest, telling them it would take Blaine a while to recover from losing so much of his blood.

Elianna fed Blaine his supper after he woke up, ignoring his sulking complaint that he preferred when Kurt did it. She watched his mouth opening in reflex when she fed him and reminded him that of course he loved being coddled by Kurt, but Kurt needed his rest too, so he tried not to complain.

Kurt was pleased and surprised when Nick and Jeff came to visit him after leaving Blaine. Jeff put his flower in his window and came to stand by Nick who had deposited the comic books on his tray, quietly explaining that the Green Lantern, the hero in the story, was supposed to be gay, so maybe he would like them. Kurt was charmed by their thoughtfulness. He thanked them effusively for their intervention and for likely saving Blaine's life, his sincerity touching them in return.

Nick was first in giving Kurt an awkward hug, and then Jeff followed with one of his own, before they left. Kurt felt tears spring up in his eyes, at further proof of being accepted by Blaine's friends as one of them. Yes, he and Blaine had suffered homophobic hatred and violence, but people like Nick and Jeff and the others that had come to their assistance made the uprooting and replanting of his life here entirely worthwhile. He had great hopes for their future, because of people like them.

That night troops of kids came to visit both of them, though Burt made sure they didn't stay long. Finn, Rachel and Mercedes were in Kurt's room, with Burt gone off to grab a coffee, when a man stopped by his room, asking if he was Kurt Hummel. The room went silent, broken by Rachel's strident whisper, "He's the policeman who interviewed us, Kurt."

"Yes, I'm Kurt Hummel." He answered him, his head held high. He and Blaine had done nothing wrong. Well, perhaps they had exceeded the boundaries of good taste, making out in public, but so had several others.

"I'm Detective Mason. Can I have a few minutes alone with you, to talk about what happened before and during the attack?" He gave an apologetic smile to the gang as they silently filed out, wishing him a good night. Danny's eyes were wide, fastened on Kurt's as the policeman closed the curtain around Kurt's bed. He wished he could spare Danny the details, but he already knew most of it.

"Is your father around? Would you prefer I speak to you with him present?" The detective asked, as he retrieved a notebook from his jacket pocket.

Kurt nodded his head affirmatively. "Burt went to get a coffee, but he said he'd be right back afterward." Burt had told him he wanted to see those boys punished for their attack, so he wanted him there during the investigation, in case he needed him. He still wasn't sure that he knew how things worked here, when it came to enforcing the law. Would the law truly punish the boys who attacked him, or merely slap them on the hand, paying lip service to their rights?

"Sure, son. How about when he gets back, I have you start at the beginning and tell me what happened, before I recap what I've heard from the other people in the area at the time of the altercation, and you can tell me if anything else comes back to you" Kurt agreed, with a nod and they shared a quick smile.

"How are you feeling today? You have a broken arm, I understand, and received a concussion?" The detective settled himself in the chair at Kurt's bedside and prepared to wait for Burt. He was about thirty five, and looked like he might have played football too at one time.

"Yes, sir. They put in a plate and several screws when they set my arm in the operation. The doctor called it a spiral greenstick fracture, and said it is rather like when you twist a twig from a tree. My headache is finally beginning to recede and it was only today that I noticed that the back of my head is more bruised than the front. There are stitches in my scalp at the hairline where he kicked me, though you can't see them under the tape, and my jaw is still sore when I open my mouth. I'm scheduled to see a dentist to see if any of my teeth are cracked. Also, today I noticed I have a huge bruise on my thigh that might be from falling against the curb." Kurt recited the laundry list of his injuries, though the policeman seemed to already have gotten some information on them. He wanted to make sure he was aware of each and every one of them.

Burt returned shortly afterward, and stood at Kurt's side while he told the detective about the party, and the ensuing attack. It was embarrassing to admit in front of everyone that he and Blaine were making out publicly at the party, but he made sure to add that several other couples were also doing the same thing, and they were just kissing. Detective Mason took extensive notes, and made no comments, until the end.

He asked for the precise wording of Rachel's comments that this was a gay-friendly party, which Kurt repeated to the best of his recall. He also asked if Kurt had previously had any contact with the boys who attacked him or known of the boys' anti-gay feelings. Burt interrupted and told the officer that he had only recently adopted Kurt because he had been orphaned, so he hadn't been raised in the area. He then asked Kurt how long he had known Blaine and if their relationship was casual or intimate.

Kurt looked him in the eyes and admitted they only had met a few weeks ago, when he had arrived in Lima, but that their connection was immediate. "Though we've only known each other briefly, we are committed to each other. He's the first boy I've ever loved, but I am convinced I will love him for the rest of my life. I would have gladly given my life to save him from this attack." Kurt said, in a calm quiet voice that gave his words the weight they deserved.

The detective nodded thoughtfully and finished his interview with a few details he wanted verified. Then he read Kurt a combined version of all the accounts he'd gotten from the people at the party, which is when Kurt learned his attackers had heard about the party because they were on Finn's and Puck's football team, and that Puck had told them they could come. Finn told the detective he hadn't invited them because his girlfriend had two fathers, and he knew how bigoted they were against homosexuals. Although, several of Mercedes' friends had eventually come to Nick and Jeff's assistance in stopping the attack, the two boys had already distracted them. Kurt owed them a huge debt, he realized.

Detective Mason said he would interview Blaine next and would be in touch before the trial. He also added that the two boys who had been charged with assault were now out of jail, released into their parent's custody. He could see Kurt's apprehension at knowing they were no longer incarcerated, and added that they had been released with an injunction warning them to stay away from the boys they'd been accused of attacking, or they would be promptly put right back in jail.

He did not tell either of the Hummel's that both their attacker's parents had also suggested there was more to the story than had come out. Mr. Azimo went as far to suggest that Blaine and Kurt might be from a drug gang invading Lima from another town, or be trying to recruit kids to prostitution. Having interviewed this boy, Mason highly doubted it. Kurt looked and sounded like a Disney character, not even as tough as one of the lilies in the vase. Before the police detective left, he warned Kurt and his adoptive father about talking to the press about the case, because it would be better for everyone if the details remained unknown until after the court case. Kurt's expressive face reflected uncomprehending confusion, regarding his remark about the press, but assumed that the detective was just being thorough.

Mason knew that there were reporters trying to reach the boys, but had no way to know that both their parents had asked the hospital to prevent any reporter's getting access to their boys. Their story had caught the attention of several state LGBT rights groups and now they, the local press, and the gossip rags all wanted to interview them, and hopefully print pictures of their ugly injuries. They were turned away by the nurses every time they tried to get in, easy to spot as opposed to their teenaged friends that were granted easier access, because their parents recognized them.

Kurt's doctor visited the next morning and released him to go home, giving him an appointment to have more x-rays done to check his break in four weeks, and the cast removed in six. He couldn't help being anxiously worried about how Burt would pay the huge expense he'd heard staying in hospital could accrue. Burt reassured him that most of it was covered by his insurance plan, since he had luckily enrolled Kurt as his dependent son when his adoption was approved. The remaining deductible, the ambulance and the dentist, would have to be paid by them for now, but Burt had already seen an attorney, and intended to sue the pants off those boys' parents and recover his expenses and far, far more. He wanted to make an example of them, for their attack on two harmless young boys, simply because they were in love.

Dressing to go home was even more difficult than Kurt had anticipated. Trying to get a pair of rather snug skinnies on with the use of only one hand proved completely impossible, and he refused to accept Burt's awkwardly amused offer of assistance. The white shirt Burt had brought wouldn't fit over the cast anyway so Kirt texted Mercedes and asked her to make an emergency run to the mall. She quickly returned with a pair of stretch khaki jodhpurs, and a tan three quarter length sleeve sweater that at least looked better than his flannel pajama pants and his sleep t-shirt, the only other options Kurt could foresee working. Even his boots had laces that required two hands to tie, which he had to submit to letting Burt do for him. His hair…well, Mercedes did her best to style it, and it would have to do.

Eventually, he took his leave of the nurses and Danny, promising to return to visit when he could. On the way out, he asked the nurse to take his wheelchair to Blaine's room to enable him to kiss his boyfriend goodbye, saddened at circumstances separating him from Blaine again. Blaine was nowhere near ready to go home yet, having so far only been able to walk a few steps with a nurse, a physiotherapist and his IV pole all required to enable him to stay upright. He was still very weak, and was very sore. They embraced very carefully, trying not to cause any discomfort while they said goodbye with a quick kiss. Blaine bravely told him to go home and heal, and he would do the same, and soon they could be together again. It was hard to leave him there alone and go home, even with Burt and Mercedes accompanying him. Burt managed to evade the reporters by asking Mercedes to stay with Kurt while he brought the car to the door.

When they entered the house Kurt was surprised by a little welcome home party for him Mercedes had arranged. He was promptly ensconced on the couch, to hold court over the crowd of chattering kids, while Burt tried to make himself scarce in the kitchen. He couldn't help his constant smile at feeling like they actually accepted him as one of their crowd. It did feel good to sleep in his own bed that night, listening to the crickets outside and to wake up rested. He didn't miss the six thirty o'clock wake up routine at all. Kurt managed to accomplish a simplified version of his morning routine and got himself dressed. Then he endeavoured to talk Burt out of making him go to the dentist, scheduled for eleven that morning, nervous about enduring more discomfort.

Burt calmed him by explaining the dentist would likely only examine him on this visit, once he learned that Kurt had never seen a dentist before today. Dentists back in his day were merely pullers of teeth, since there were no repairs possible, so he was hoping there was no permanent damage. Luckily, because his mother had begun his dental hygiene at a young age, the dentist merely assumed that Kurt was merely a little overdue to visit a dentist.

Considering those circumstances, Kurt was lucky to get away lightly. He had two small cavities that should soon be filled, he needed his teeth cleaned, and his wisdom teeth would need to be pulled in the next year or two. The doctor reported the results of his examination to Burt, who was waiting for him in the reception area. He added that he had no way to tell if the nerves were damaged in the area that had been bruised in the attack, which was still very tender and sore, unless they flared up in an infection. He was hopeful Kurt would likely recover without permanent effects. Burt decided the fillings could wait until Kurt's jaw was less tender, and the wisdom teeth could be done possibly the following summer, before he went away to college and only booked a cleaning for a month from then. Kurt had dealt with enough pain and trauma for a while.

Blaine spent six more long days in the hospital, becoming increasingly resentful and grumpy at being separated from his boyfriend. Nick drove Kurt in on the third and fifth days to briefly visit him. In between, when Kurt couldn't be there, he had to settle for Kurt's friend Danny to visit with him. They played checkers or sometimes just talked while they listened to music. Danny was fascinated with Blaine's description of Dalton and wanted to go there very badly, once he was given a clean bill of health.

Blaine told him to practice his singing so he could join the Warblers, and promised to put in a good word for him, in a couple of years, when Danny was old enough... if he ever _got _old enough. Neither of them mentioned that it might never happen. Admitting that you had something that wouldn't get better was strictly against the unspoken rules, for now at least. If things got desperate, then he would talk about it, but for now, Danny refused to entertain the possibility of dying. He would get better and attend Dalton, he had decided stubbornly.

The second time Nick and Jeff brought Kurt in to visit, Danny was having a bad day, restricted to bed rest because of a slight fever. Blaine insisted on visiting him in a wheelchair, since he could still only walk a few steps at a time, and took his friends to visit with him. They sang a couple songs for him, which wasn't easy harmony with only three tenors, a counter tenor who didn't know the songs very well and Blaine at barely half strength. Danny didn't care, delighted with their performance, and then he was even more determined to beat the stupid leukemia and get into Dalton.

He would have liked to hang out with them longer, especially because Kurt had come to visit, but Blaine told him they were going to leave them, to be alone for a bit in his room. He didn't mind…much. Kurt didn't object to some privacy, grateful for the opportunity to climb onto Blaine's bed, and try to find a workable position to hold his boyfriend again. When he thought about never being able to do this again, he clutched Blaine tightly until they both winced in discomfort, whispering he never wanted to come that close to losing him again. They were in a sad situation, neither of them able to hold the other, or kiss each other without ows and ouches spoiling it. For now, simply being close would have to do, drawing comfort from each other's proximity.

When Blaine was released, his parents prepared to take him to their car in a wheelchair, eagerly accompanied by Kurt who had volunteered to come along, his face still discoloured by the slowly fading bruises from the attack. They had only just left the building, headed for the parking lot when they were immediately surrounded by a troop of reporters shouting questions and flashing photographs of them. Both of them were overwhelmed and intimidated, cringing when photographers shouted to them to kiss each other. They walked faster, trying to outrun them, but they moved just as fast trying to keep up. Elianna put her arm protectively around Kurt, following Ed pushing the chair. Blaine was holding his plant, and a bag of gifts he'd accumulated over the eight days he'd been in hospital, wishing he could run away.

They finally reached the car, and Ed with his hands held high, tried to drive the reporters away to give Blaine a chance to stand up with Kurt's help and transfer into the car. He was unable to keep a wince from his face, still very weak and sore. The photographers caught every nuance of their movements, and when their eyes met, they could imagine the headlines already. 'Two poor little gay boys are released from the hospital after having the crap beaten out of them, to scuttle home to hide.'

Kurt's temper rose beyond his control at their heckling and he turned to snap at their paparazzi. "Please do not harass my boyfriend any further. He is in precarious health and has already suffered too much." He stared down the press vultures imperiously, and was surprised to hear them sink into silence. Once of them politely asked him a question, her voice ringing out clearly in the silence.

"Are you dreading facing your attackers at the court case, Kurt?" She asked him the question in an even voice, her face looking concerned. Kurt answered her honestly, intensely relieved that they were no longer shouting at them.

"Of _course_ we're both dreading revisiting the memories the court case will dredge up. We just want to forget it ever happened, but we can't do what _we _would prefer. It's imperative that we prosecute our attackers, to prevent this sort of abuse in the future." Kurt turned away and prepared to get into the car beside Blaine, refusing to answer any more shouted questions. Blaine gave him a proud smile, looking up into his face and Kurt returned it, standing outside the car looking down at him.

All the cameras flashed, catching the moment for the front of the newspapers, and for the online articles quoting him. The pictures would attract even more attention from both proponents and enemies of LGBT rights, who would turn their case into a 'National Cause'.

Now that Blaine was finally released from the hospital, Kurt spent most of his days at Blaine's house, working on catching up on the lessons he'd let slide since the time of their assault. If he didn't catch them up soon, he would never get into Dalton this year. He was determined to make up all the time he'd lost, with the help of Nick and Jeff, though they now worked at Blaine's house, so he could still be with him.

Reporters took up semi permanent positions waiting outside the Hummel and Anderson houses, begging anyone going in or out for interviews, and hoping for pictures. The phone rang constantly with offers for exclusive appearances on television shows and magazines. Neither boy would consider any public appearances or exclusive interviews, both because they didn't want to glorify the attacks, and because they didn't want Kurt's past, or rather the lack of a traceable past, unearthed. Newspaper researchers remained baffled about his history, but beyond staying that Burt had adopted Kurt because he'd been orphaned, they all kept quiet.

Mercedes tried to come over to spend time with Kurt in the evenings, or they would all scrunch onto Blaine's bed together and watch movies. Kurt preferred the Hollywood Classics of the fifties and sixties, finding their sweet romance more to his taste than the gritty more realistic movies of today. Mercedes called him an incurable romantic, and Blaine defended him, saying he was perfect, which earned him the reward of his gratitude.

Always having reporters, their friends, and Blaine's parents hovering around, not to mention Blaine's surgical wound, and Kurt's cast, made getting close challenging. Finding ways and means to make out that didn't cause them too much discomfort was even more difficult, but they were both willing to keep trying. By the time Kurt's right arm had been in that cast for a couple weeks he was going slightly crazy lying in Blaine's bed and making out with him.

One evening, they were lazily squirming around on Blaine's bed, trying to find a comfortable position, with Kurt's good arm holding Blaine's shoulders close and his cast awkwardly propped between them, still in his sling. Blaine still couldn't hold his arms up for too long, with his abdominals pulling at him, so he had to settle for resting his hands on Kurt's hips, lying on his side against him. He was pulling Kurt closer and closer, both of them resigned to humping like bunnies again until the discomfort made one or the other pull away.

Kurt was panting as he kissed Blaine, his tongue delving deep into his mouth. He felt Blaine pulling him closer, his hands creeping around to clutch his ass against him. God, he could feel him sending off sparks as they humped each other harder. His hips answered Blaine's thrusts, and he suddenly realized that if he didn't stop soon, he was going to lose his control and have an orgasm. This time he didn't want to stop; he wanted Blaine too badly. He quickly slid the sling over his head so he could heave the cast over Blaine's side and rolled himself on top of him, gaining delicious friction by thrusting against him even harder, using the casted arm for support in spite of the increasing pain.

Blaine had been having little success trying to work up the determination to stop, even before Kurt rolled onto him. Now he was whimpering with every thrust, the movement of Kurt's hips making him so damned horny he was ready to burst into flames. He didn't want to stop at all. He'd promised Kurt he would…. but…ooh. He held himself as still as he could, trying to delay the inevitable, and felt Kurt working his hips over him, his good hand clutching his hair and his lips demanding on his mouth. Fuck, Kurt was the one in control here and he wasn't stopping, Blaine suddenly realized, with a rush.

He gave up any pretence of trying to stop then, as he lifted his hips to match Kurt's thrusts again, ignoring the pain from his belly whenever he contracted the muscles, willing to follow wherever Kurt led them. As he met Kurt's next thrust, he felt heat ignite within him past the point of no return. God, he was going to… Kurt rolled his hips again and he felt it explode through him, an avalanche of heady delight consuming him, pouring through all his veins, as he groaned in reaction.

Kurt rolled against him again, and he convulsed with the pleasure shooting through his whole body nullifying the pain from his irritated incision. He heard Kurt moan in an upwardly spiraling whine that culminated in a long drawn out series of groans. My god, he was coming too, he recognized as Kurt's whole body shuddered on him. He made helpless sounds of completion through his diminishing thrusts, his breath hot against Blaine's neck. Blaine felt a flood of love flow through him, holding his boyfriend as he gradually slowed his tremors, until the pain from the incision began to intrude again.

As Kurt relaxed, and the endorphins faded, his shoulder shot off agonizing darts of pain, reminding him he had been abusing that arm far too much. Blaine felt Kurt slumping on to him, to take the pressure off his arm and hissed in reaction. The pain had now increased to the point where he had to complain. "Oh, ow, ow" he gritted, "you're pressing on my incision."

Kurt scrambled off Blaine's chest and rolled to his good side, his breath still heaving. Blaine gasped with relief and sensitivity, the realization that they had just had sex after weeks of drought, completely sublimated by their mutual discomfort.

"Oh my god, I think I might of broken my arm again. Ooh, that hurts!" Kurt held his breath, rocking bath and forth against Blaine as he tried to subdue the pain he had reawakened in his arm, the movement unintentionally creating aftershocks. They met each other's eyes and suddenly dissolved into a fit of astonished laughter. The realization finally struck them that they had reached a milestone they had looked forward to for a month, hardly noticed because of the complaints at the forefront of their minds.

"You didn't stop." Blaine whispered, basking in his delight that Kurt had been the one who had brought them there.

Kurt smiled back at him coyly. "No. I wanted it to happen. I want to make _more_ than that happen. I think nearly losing you made me realize I could no longer be a 'wuss', as Danny calls it, and waste any more opportunities to show you how much I love you. I want to experience what it feels like to make love with you again, but… I think we have to wait until we're hale and healthy. The thought of trying to do that with the use of only one hand is rather daunting."

"It's unfortunate that, after wasting all that time when we were _able_ to have sex, now we're forced to settle for what we can manage. How long do you think, until we heal?" Kurt smirked at him teasingly, his eyes telling Blaine that he still wanted him. Blaine didn't care what kind of sex they could manage to have, as much as he cared that Kurt wanted to have it. It was almost worth having barely survived the attack to have Kurt willing to make love with him again.

Kurt cleaned up the mess he'd made in his pants in the bathroom ruing his inability to shower, having become completely addicted to hot showers in no time. He didn't regret doing what he had though. It had felt completely fantastic to bring Blaine to his orgasm, and he could hardly wait to do it again. In the only bright side from the attack, he had finally tumbled the inhibitions keeping him from acting on his desire for Blaine.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I apologize for a delay of two weeks. I have family coming to stay and won't get a chance to work on writing at all. But I will return to finish the story.**

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**Chapter 8**

Kurt was so excited when he received the enrollment package from Dalton, he rushed to his room to delay opening it, for a bit. He sat on his bed and turned it over, relishing the weight and the potential in that envelope before he finally couldn't put off opening it for one second longer. He carefully removed the folders, forms and booklet outlining the features and the long and proud history of the historic school. It seemed strange that during all the intervening years between when he left home and when he arrived here in 2011, the school had been turning out leaders and executives. And more than a hundred years after he'd told his father that he didn't want to go there, he would end up a Dalton boy.

Of course he still needed to qualify to get in first. In his application letter, he had told them that he had been home schooled, and didn't have any grade equivalencies or transcripts, so they had booked an appointment for him to write the tests, in only a little over two weeks! He resolved to work even harder on his lessons. The results of those tests would determine whether he could be a senior with Blaine, Nick and Jeff or had to enroll in a lower grade. He so much hoped he could be in their year, because the four of them had bonded very closely after spending so many hours together all summer, working in turns with Kurt on the core subjects he would be tested on. In between their lessons, they also discussed everything from Mideast Oil Wars to skeletally thin runway models.

Kurt had been raised in an era where a lush feminine figure like Mercedes' was the height of desirability, and nothing could convince him that the scrawny women in the fashion magazines were anything but childlike waifs. He asserted that was his proof that today's fashion and culture worshiped youth and thinness, instead of the average adult figures of most men and women. The fact that most of the top male models, movie and music stars were also very thin, helped to overwhelmingly corroborate his point.

His argument made Nick reconsider his own prejudices in retrospect. Mercedes was strong, sassy and all woman, and he really admired her attitude and her determination. He decided he should call her up and ask her to go out with him the following Saturday night. His call surprised the heck out of her because she seldom dated, since most of the boys she knew considered her overweight, and only skinny girls like Santana sexy. She readily agreed to accompany him for dinner and a movie, before she hung up and crowed with delight. She intended to talk to Kurt and find out more because she had a strong suspicion he was somehow involved in whatever happened to make Nick call her.

Nick and Jeff usually went home for supper around five or five thirty every night, and Kurt usually waited for Burt to pick him up after work, around six thirty, so for an hour or so every night, he and Blaine could make out on his bed, unless someone came to interrupt - which happened disappointingly often. Kurt was working up the courage to try something new and undo Blaine's pants, when Elianna interrupted them this time, with a brief knock on Blaine's door.

She was comfortable with the boys working together in Blaine's room because at least he was content to lie down and rest for most of the time, as long as his friends were there. But once Kurt and Blaine were left alone, it usually got very, very quiet up there. She was aware of a different atmosphere around those two since the attack. They were joined at the hip, physically and emotionally, seldom apart for more than the night time hours. It was obvious to everyone now that they were deeply committed to each other.

How could she object to them spending time alone together, after what they had been through? She was often the one feeling guilty when she caught them kissing, so she did her best to leave them alone. What with the handicaps and injuries they had, they couldn't get into very much trouble anyway.

She tapped softly at Blaine's closed door tonight, because a Dalton friend had unexpectedly dropped by to visit him. She asked the boy to wait at the top of the stairs to see if Blaine was up to having company, but in actuality she wanted to give the boys enough time to prepare for visitors, in case they were…um, keeping busy. Her tap at the door remained unanswered, so she gently opened it, in case they were sleeping, because both boys still had a tendency to drop off to sleep for short naps, still recovering after the trauma they had suffered.

Oh, well! My. They definitely weren't sleeping. It looked to her like Kurt was kissing the bejeebers out of Blaine. She backed away as silently as possible and closed the door, doing her best to school her face, before she turned around, smiling woodenly.

"I'm sorry. I don't think this isn't a good time. They're still both recovering from their injuries. Maybe you could come back tomorrow? It's Sebastian, right? I'll tell Blaine you were here, and maybe he could call you to say when would be a better time." She smiled at him sweetly. Sebastian strongly suspected he knew what was actually going on in Blaine's room, if the rumors he'd heard from Jeff were true, but he hardly expected his mother to condone it them getting it on in his room. How the hell had Blaine ever managed that?

The Dalton senior nodded pleasantly, trying his best to hide his intense chagrin, and removed his finger from the trigger on the automatic camera he carried in his pocket, ready to shoot as soon as he entered the room. He had only needed a few seconds of unrestricted access, but Blaine's mother had prevented him going upstairs and opening the bedroom door himself. He hoped that without a prior warning, getting candid shots of whatever Blaine and his boy-toy 'Kunt' were doing would be simple.

Sebastian had an negotiated an offer from 'Hot News Stories" of $50,000 for anything showing them doing something sexual, with an extra double bonus if there was any appreciable skin involved, and a minimum of $10,000 to $20,000 for a shot with both of them in it, in any way. If he could have snuck in and caught a video of them having sex, he would have been set for life.

He kept his voice level and smooth, in spite of wanting to scream with frustration. "No problem, Mrs. A. I can drop by another time. Tell Blaine I said hello. He rather looks up to me as a mentor. I'm a senior at Dalton this year too, but I've been out and proud since before I started high school, so I sort of helped him come to terms with his sexuality. I am so proud of him for upholding gay rights like this. It just proves he's been a great pupil. I'll see you both another time then. Good evening."

He flashed his patented parent-pleasing smile and turned to casually skip down the stairs like he didn't have a care in the world. That might be strike one, but tomorrow was another day. He began to whistle at the bottom of the stairs as he showed himself out, wondering if Blaine's boyfriend was as fragile as he looked on camera. He'd let Blaine get the crap beaten out of him, while he cowered in a corner and Blaine was far too pretty to risk scarring that sweet body.

Elianna watched the smiling boy leave the house, wondering if she should have interrupted the boys anyway, if he was such a dear friend and mentor of Blaine's. But there was something …just a little bit _off_, about him that she couldn't quite peg down. What was that mentor stuff about? You would have thought that Blaine might have mentioned him somewhere along the line if he had looked up to him, but then, he hadn't mentioned Kurt either until they were suddenly _very_ together. She was still loitering at the top of the stairs when Blaine's door opened and Kurt emerged, stopping short in surprise, obviously suspecting that she'd been eavesdropping on them, so of course, she had to explain her presence.

"Oh, hello Kurt. I was showing a Dalton friend of Blaine's upstairs to visit, but I guess you didn't hear my knock. He just left, saying he would return tomorrow. I'll just tell Blaine that Sebastian was here to see him. She smiled as she tapped again on Blaine's door. Kurt happened to know that Blaine would prefer a few more minutes of privacy, since the discomfort had out-weighed the pleasure, in this instance, while they had been making out. There was a faint answer from Blaine's room, asking who it was. Kurt decided to delay Elianna for a little longer, to give his boyfriend a few more seconds to get decent.

"I don't remember hearing Sebastian's name before. Is he a Warbler?" Kurt asked conversationally.

"I'm not sure. I don't know him well either, but he said he was Blaine's mentor because he's been out and proud for years." Elianna decided to get the Dalton yearbook out and look him up to get background on the boy. If Blaine hadn't told Kurt about him, there was something even a little more off. Kurt felt a cold prickle of jealousy when he heard another gay boy had come to visit Blaine. Was he an ex-boyfriend? Blaine had mentioned that he'd kissed a boy before.

"Blaine, may I come in?" Elianna asked again, wondering what was keeping him. She was answered by a faint "yes" so she opened the door to find Blaine sitting up in his bed looking suspiciously angelic, with even pink roses in his cheeks. "Hi, honey. I wanted to tell you someone came to visit a few minutes ago. You ah, didn't answer when I knocked, so I asked him to come back tomorrow. His name was Sebastian…oh…something. Maybe you could call him, or email him to say what time he should come over? I know you're working intensively with Kurt right now, so I wasn't sure when exactly to tell him to come back. I didn't know you had a mentor at Dalton, dear. I wish you would tell us about the important people in your life, Blaine." She smiled at him and left to go back downstairs, her message delivered.

Blaine watched her go and saw Kurt looking at him uncertainly.

Blaine immediately responded to the expression on his face. "I never did _anything_ with him, honey, and I certainly never considered him a mentor. He's one of those 'ho's that give gays a bad name, nailing any guy that would hold still for him. I'm not into promiscuity, Kurt, so I said no thanks every time he propositioned me, which was about once a week for the last three years. I have no idea why he would show up at my house today, other than him thinking I'm unable to run very fast right now. Will you protect me from him?" Blaine gave his boyfriend those puppy dog eyes, and Kurt grinned at him in return, his suspicions put to rest.

"Tell Sebastian he can come by tomorrow, about three. I _will_ protect you, I promise you. How are you doing now, by the way?" Kurt asked, one eyebrow quirked and his mouth trying to suppress a smile.

"I'll try again later, before I go to sleep. I'll count on you to keep me safe from him. Goodnight love." Blaine sent a kiss through the air, to his boyfriend. Kurt leaned back to catch it it and sent one back to him, then left to wait for his dad.

Sebastian showed up the next day at three as advertised, all smarmy and slick, asking to see Blaine and Kirk. He had lost the advantage of surprise, but he could still hang out with them long enough to try to catch them being affectionate. By all reports they had been making out, right in the middle of that party, so this Kurtsy must have found the key to Blaine's chastity belt. He looked forward to meeting this master of prestidigitation. He might even be worth a little side trip, if he was good enough to get into the only pair of Dalton slacks Sebastian had never managed to find his way into, once he'd made it a mission of his.

He was invited to go ahead up the stairs by Blaine's mother, and found Blaine's bedroom door wide open this time. The room held Blaine, holding court on his bed, surrounded by a flotilla of pillows like an Arabian princess, and rather disappointingly, by three other boys. Two he recognized from the Warblers. Jeff and Nick were both straight and not interested in experimenting, though the blond was sort of cute, if you liked innocent and blond, and he rather did. Nick was too intense and too thoughtful for his taste. He hated smart and meticulous types; they always wanted to _talk _about everything, and Seb had better uses for their mouths.

The last boy was watching him just as intently as he was checking him. This Kurt had definite possibilities. A very nice toushy in those skinny jeans, tall enough to look in the eye…he had very beautiful eyes, actually. Nice hair, and a wide and delectable mouth. Yes, there were definitely possibilities to be considered.

Sebastian turned on the charm, smiling warmly. "Well hello, gentlemen. I had to stop by and tell you both how impressed I was by you. It takes gut to take on two gorillas and make them pay for what they did to you. Congratulations, you ought to get thousands in damages out of them. Can I see the massive scar he left on that previously flawless body?" Sebastian smiled inquisitively, trying to look harmless. That would be one way to get some skin into a picture. If he could somehow get Kurt to help Blaine pull up his shirt, that would make an awesome shot.

"Kurt, maybe you could help Blaine a little." Sebastian suggested smoothly, his finger finding the trigger on the camera. If they were all occupied by looking at Blaine's zipper tracks, they might not even notice the camera, one of those new super-small silent ones that were made for candid shots, supplied by the gossip rag that had outbid the others. No one moved to take his suggestion, disappointingly. "Still shy Blaine? I thought you had dropped the ice queen persona. I heard Kurt managed to melt your reserve." He teased them, hoping to embarrass them into cooperating.

Kurt's mouth flattened in anger. Referring to melting reserves was not the way to make a friend of Kurt, when he had spent weeks trying to escape his own. "Blaine has been melting mine actually, so I would never consider Blaine an ice queen. Perhaps he was just being polite, instead of merely telling you to _fuck off, _like I would have_."_ Kurt said drily, with an insincere smile and a saccharine voice. Sebastian glared at the pretty, pretty, bitch and realized he was jealous of him and smiled back, just as insincerely.

Blaine was watching Kurt in surprised shock, his mouth agape. Kurt just swore! Kurt _never _swore, unless he was under great provocation. Which meant….Sebastian had pushed his buttons. Okay, this was enough fun and games. Now he just wanted to get rid of him. "Thanks for stopping by, Sebastian, but we have to get back to work." It had just occurred to Blaine that Kurt would have to put up with Sebastian every day, if he got into Dalton. This could get bitter, unless he could convince him to back off.

"And what work are you doing that requires the assistance of three boys in your bedroom Blaine? Are you that insatiable, now that you've finally figured out what your dick is for?" Sebastian grinned, raising his eyebrows at the twink with territorial tendencies. That ought to set him off, he thought with satisfaction.

Nick chuckled out loud, defusing his insult somewhat. Jeff laughed and answered him, his voice teasing too. "Insatiable he might be, but Kurt is enough man to keep him happy." Kurt glanced at Jeff, and nodded his thanks for the backup, and dearly wished it was true. Blaine just grinned and nodded his agreement. Sebastian was flummoxed. This was getting him nowhere.

"Well, I'll be off, I suppose, if you'd rather entertain the ladies. Give me a call Blaine, if you get tired of the amateur lover, and you want to try a real man. I'm sure I'm man enough to keep you in that bed for another week or two, too worn out and weak to stand. Gentlemen." He nodded and left, wondering how he would get back in again to get those pictures. There were no trees or other houses to get a view into the bedroom, and now Kurt would be wary of him. Damn his good looks and charm, making the princess jealous immediately. He should have gone for shy and tentative. That worked far better on naïve boys.

"I don't like that man." Kurt announced to the room quietly. No one answered him, since he had made that abundantly clear already.

"He's harmless. His massive ego keeps him trying, but I'll just keep telling him …" Blaine tried to cool Kurt down.

"To go fuck off?" Kurt proposed, a bitter smile on his face, as he glanced to his boyfriend.

Blaine nodded, with a chuckle, sort of turned on by Kurt's possessiveness. "Yes, if he doesn't get the message...or you can. I love it when you're possessive." He eyed Kurt provocatively, sending him a message that he was his and only his. Kurt eyed him back haughtily, silently saying he damn well better be, or there would be certain organs at grave risk.

Nick and Jeff watched the byplay, reading it fairly easily, and met each other's eyes. "So, a review of the breakup of the USSR after the Cold War anybody?" Jeff offered, trying to get them back on track. Kurt was prickly for a few minutes, until complex historical details took his mind off of what Sebastian was after.

Sebastian was certainly persistent, Kurt would give him that much. He came back two days later, and Elianna let him in again, since no one had asked her not to. He took a very different tack the next time, but Kurt wasn't having any of it. He glared at him while Sebastard trotted out that saccharine meerkat smile at Blaine and him.

"I'd like to apologize to you, Kurt. I was wrong to say what I did, implying that Blaine was an ice queen, when its so obvious he isn't, at all. I find your devotion to each other very sweet, though I could never devote myself to one man, at this point in my life. Perhaps in twenty or thirty years, but for now, there is too much to experience. I can hardly wait for University, for new territory to conquer."

He made himself at home, leaning his flat bum on Blaine's desk, covered in Kurt's history lessons. Nick backed away from him, impatiently waiting until he left again. Time was running out and they still had too much work to do.

"So, tell me what you're up to in here? What is so fascinating that demands the four of you holing up day after day throughout the whole summer? Jeff's Facebook mentioned that he was going to be an expert in history after spending the summer going over and over the material." Sebastian fluidly draped himself facing backward over the desk chair, looking like he intended to stick around. Kurt maintained his icy stare, while the silence echoed. No one replied to his snide inquiries.

"Are you making gay pornos up here?" Sebastian grinned his toothy smile, raising his eyebrows in a smirk toward Blaine, who merely rolled his eyes. He redirected his attention to Nick and Jeff, shaking his head in disbelief. "You two really had me believing that you were straight, you little bitches. You know, I bet I can teach Blaine a thing or two that he doesn't know, Kurt. First love is so overrated and experience is a much better mistress." He had slowly unwound himself from the chair, and approached Blaine, step by slow step like a snake advancing on a rabbit. Blaine stared at him, hypnotized by his soft sibilant voice, much like a snake's.

Kurt suddenly stood and approached the bed protectively, ready to fling the adder in their midst away from his boyfriend, his hands clenched. Nick sat up straighter, ready to back him up, and Jeff lowered one foot to the floor, just in case. Blaine remained stationary. "Just relax, Kurt. I just intend to borrow those sugar lips to see if he would rather be with me…" He was now within reach of Blaine, and Kurt had heard enough.

"No. You will _not _touch him, ever." His voice was quiet, but they all heard the restrained anger in it.

"Then you kiss him Kurt, and then give me one chance to change his mind. If he still prefers you, I will leave you both alone from now on. Agreed?" Sebastian smiled easily, suddenly sounding quite harmless. "I'll even promise to keep my hands away from him, if you'll do the same"

If that was all it would take, Kurt would gladly oblige. He quickly leaned his good arm on the bed and kissed Blaine, his lips finding their way home on his. Blaine's hands rose to hold Kurt's shoulders, and his eyes closed sensuously. Kurt moved his lips against Blaine's, as they teased with their tongues. Kurt was suddenly breathless, and broke away, his eyes meeting Blaine's warm ones staring back at him with a tender smile. Oh my lord, he loved that boy. He returned the smile, and stood up triumphantly, knowing…feeling how much Blaine loved him.

"My turn now." Sebastian said eagerly, trying to suppress his triumph. He'd gotten the shot, and it should be amazing, with Blaine's sappy expression and Kurt's delicious ass both in the shot. He intended to ask 30,000 at least…maybe more, if it was as good as he thought it might be.

He bent to kiss Blaine, assuming the same pose Kurt had, and finally…._finally, _got to taste those luscious lips. Blaine held back, refusing to open when Sebastian probed his lips with his tongue. He gave up, since it was pretty obvious they were still hot for each other, the way you felt in that first rush of an affair. But he would be waiting when they inevitably broke up to provide a sympathetic shoulder for Blaine to cry on. And on the plus side, he wouldn't have to break in another virgin. Blaine reached a hand for Kurt's to indicate his choice. His boyfriend sat on the bed, and merely raised an imperious eyebrow toward Sebastian.

Sebastian raised his arms in surrender with his hands still clenched, and gracefully conceded Kurt's victory. "I suppose I can't win them all. Good luck to you then, gentlemen. See you around Dalton, boys." He waived one hand to them in a salute as he left the room, looking far too happy to have just lost, but at least he was leaving, Kurt consoled himself, _and_ he'd said he would never come back. He heard a cheer from Nick and Jeff, and turned to see Jeff's hand raised in a high five. He smacked it and Nick's, feeling oddly ill at ease, considering he'd won that dispute. He really did not like that man at all, fellow Dalton brother or not. It occurred to him that their spat would continue daily once he attended the school, but he would remind Sebastian who Blaine loved as often as it took.

Mercedes came pounding up the stairs two days later, brandishing a gossip rag with the headline blaring in large red letters "_**Gay lovers recover from gay-bashing in bed together**_."

Oh. My. God! Kurt read the headline, going cold with repulsion. He recognized the sweater he was wearing in the photo, one of several he had recently acquired to wear over his clumsy cast. The picture was taken two days ago, when Sebastian…that, that …urggggh. He growled to himself furiously. If he could catch that twerp he would twist off his nuts for him to ram them down his throat, and hope that would severely disable his alley cat morals.

Elianna came up after Mercedes, wondering what in heaven's name was going on. She arrived in time to hear her son use some words she strongly disapproved of. "Blaine! You might be upset, but there are far more cultured words to express that you're angry." She found Kurt, Jeff and Nick looking thunderstruck as they all crowded around Mercedes, tucked in beside Blaine, while they read over her shoulder.

She craned over them and saw a photo of Kurt kissing her son …On the front cover of one of those gossip magazines! She was tempted to say a few bad words too. "Where did this picture come from? I would have hoped by now that you would be smart enough to keep your sexual relationship where it belongs. In private!"

"Mom, we had no idea Sebastian was going to take pictures. Kurt only…Sebastian promised he would …if we…crap!" Blaine subsided into a major sulk, knowing it was too late to do anything about the photo now.

Elianna turned her aggravation on Kurt instead. "I wish you would just stop using Blaine for your sexual satisfaction. There is a time and a place to behave this way, and around other people _is not _it. If you can't control your impulses I will have to insist on someone supervising you when you're together. How much of this would have happened if you and Blaine weren't being inappropriate with others around?"

She turned her glare on the other occupants of the room, daring them to say one word, then turned and left. Now the reporters would be even more intrusive after this article stirred everyone up again. The court case was approaching in a couple more weeks, and now her son and Kurt had proved that they had no morals or sense of judgement about how to behave. The lawyers would make hay with the inference that her son and Kurt incited the attack on purpose with their shocking behavior.

The inhabitants of the room froze when Elianna accused Kurt of being the cause of the attack. Kurt felt like he had just been struck across the face by her. He could feel the tears welling but he refused to cry like a child, because, after all, she had a very strong case. The attack had been his fault because he had let things get out of hand, making out with Blaine at the party. Blaine's injuries were his fault because he had stood frozen, while Blaine was punched repeatedly. The photograph was his fault because he had wanted to prove to Sebastian that Blaine belonged to him, just as if they were mongrels in the streets fighting over a bitch in heat.

Mercedes watched Kurt's face pale, reflecting his guilt. Hell to the no, he believed her bullshit. "No way, Kurt, no way. This was _not_ your fault." She tried, she really did, but she could tell that Kurt wasn't listening. He suddenly turned and dashed out the door, running down the stairs and out the door before they could stop him. Blaine looked horrified, still reeling from seeing them in that picture, taking a beautiful moment and turning it into a travesty.

He struggled to get out of bed and chase after Kurt, but he had hardly pulled his feet out of the bed, holding his belly to support his stitches, before Mercedes shoved him back against his pillows by the shoulder. "_You_ stay put here. You can't go running after him, for god's sake. What if the reporters caught you two arguing, out on the street? Nick, you, Jeff and I are going after him. Blaine, you stay put, and we'll call you as soon as we find him. Talk to your mother and clue her in about Kurt. He's got a bad rap here, and you need to straighten her out. Boys, it's time for damage control."

She went striding out the door, with the two boys following her. Blaine pulled himself together and took the magazine Mercedes had left behind with him downstairs. He was going to sit his mother down and fill her in on his and Kurt's relationship. It was time to tell her everything, right from where and how they met.

Nick and Mercedes drove their cars up and down the streets searching for Kurt, but he was not to be found. They continued to search until nightfall, but they came up empty. They stopped at Burt's house, forced to tell him what happened. He shook his head in dismay, distressed at hearing about the headline on the candid photograph and Kurt's reaction to Elianna's attack. The poor kid.

He stood thoughtfully considering for a moment and had an idea of where to look for his son, but he kept it to himself, in case he was wrong. The others left again, giving up the search for tonight, after making him promise to call them if he heard from Kurt. He watched them drive away and then slapped on his cap, grabbing Kurt's jacket from the closet when he left. He drove to the Lima Consolidated Cemetery, and parked on the roadside. It was deep twilight, nearly full night by now, and the stars were shining brightly showing the serried rows of grave stones, but not brightly enough to illuminate his son.

He found him at his father's grave, his good arm hunched around his knees and his chin resting on the broken one. He joined him on the night-cool grass, his knees popping as he sat. "Hey buddy. Your friends are worried about you. Mercedes told me a little about the foofaraw at Blaine's house and his mother's attack on you."

Kurt sat silently, not responding or even looking at him. He looked catatonic, too miserable to even cry. He'd shed oceans of tears, wishing he could return to his father and have his loving arms around him again. Burt pulled him close with an arm around him, and felt his thrum of trembling travel up his arm. He spread his coat out over him and pulled him against his body again and began to talk, mostly to the grass, but he knew Kurt was listening.

"I know you're taking this too much to heart Kurt, feeling bad because of your part in what happened. But I want you to remember that you're fighting a battle here, son. There were other kids at that party making out too, weren't there?" Kurt didn't answer his question, but Burt continued anyway. He already knew the answer to that question, but he was trying to get across what Kurt and Blaine had taught him.

"None of _them _would have felt like it was their fault if somebody had attacked them for it, because they weren't doing anything they felt was wrong. That picture in the trash rag, it says you and Blaine are recovering in bed after being attacked. So…what's the problem with that? Blaine has to stay in bed most of the time, because it will take him weeks to recover from the attack.

The _problem_ here is the magazine, trying to make it sound like you have no right to be recovering in bed together, or to kiss your boyfriend, and you _do_ Kurt. You have every right to love Blaine and to express that with sex. You're over eighteen and it's a normal part of being in love. They have no right to sully the way you feel about the boy you love. Its pure and beautiful, and so is the way you show it. Yeah okay. Maybe you could be a little more particular about who is around when you and Blaine do the horizontal mambo, but geeze Kurt, don't ever feel bad about sharing something like you two have." Burt could feel a slight subterranean snicker from Kurt's reaction to his humor, and nudged him playfully before he continued.

"You told me once that you believed that Blaine was sent to you in answer to your prayer for the perfect soul to love. Remember that, when people try to make you feel bad about loving him. He's perfect for you and you are perfect for him. It's the world you live in, that's a little bit broken. We're not going to ever give up trying to fix it, just because people don't understand yet, but don't ever forget you have the god-given right to love him. I think your dad would be very disappointed in you if you did."

At that, Kurt turned a tear stained face to him and let out a sob, as he melted into Burt's arms. He held him tightly, the cast a solid weight between them, trying to let the love he'd somehow grown for this boy seep into him, to give him comfort. Yes, he'd given Kurt a home and a family when he had none, but Kurt had given him a great deal too. He'd given him a family too, someone to love, and a cause to believe in. He and Blaine were all the family he needed.

He stood up when Kurt's tears slowed, complaining about sitting on the cold ground before his time was up, and hauled Kurt to his feet by his good arm, before enfolding him against his side. "I'm surprised you couldn't hear your dad saying something like that to you from beyond the grave, Kurt. I know he would have, if he could." Burt pointed out lightly, as they began the walk back to his truck.

"What makes you think he didn't?" Kurt said, smiling sadly. Burt cocked his head thoughtfully and nodded. Yeah, could be. That had been far more eloquent than he had ever been before.

"Goodnight Burt. Thank you, for sending your son to me." He thanked his forebearer gratefully, wondering if his lonely yearning for a family had been answered too.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Here we are, the end of the line. This will be the end of this verse. We all know Kurt will rock Dalton, and rule that place, no matter what year he gets there. Thank for reading. I've been writing an original novel but I have several other Glee fics I am working on too.**

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**Chapter 9**

Burt insisted that Kurt call Blaine and his friends to tell them he was safe at home, and that they would talk tomorrow. Blaine apologized to Kurt ten times over, for his mother's taking out her frustration on him. He had sat her down and tried to explain how he met Kurt, but she dismissed his story, saying was confused, or having some kind of drug withdrawal hallucination, because travelling back in time just did_ not_ really happen. But she also admitted she shouldn't have exploded at Kurt and intended to apologize to him as soon as he came over tomorrow.

Kurt had thought he would _never_ be welcome at Blaine's house again, so even if Elianna didn't believe them, he was grateful that at least she would allow him to return. He still didn't understand how that picture had ended up in the newspaper, but he knew it had to have been Sebastian who was responsible. He had learned enough about technology to know that photos were easily taken almost anywhere now, so he must have been plotting all along to make them kiss and, he and Blaine had played right into his hand.

The court case was coming up very soon, and somehow Kurt doubted that the picture would help their case one bit. They had retained a lawyer to represent them, Melissa Trang, a young woman who felt they had an excellent case, with several witnesses who could verify their account of the beatings. There was photographic evidence of their injuries and no evidence that they had done anything to provoke their attackers. She dismissed the fact that they had been kissing at the party as completely inconsequential, but it was her job to make their case seem strong. Kurt was still not confident that they would get a fair hearing.

Should they drop the charges, and avoid the whole public debacle it was going to turn into? Damnation, it would pain Kurt to let those two ruffians get off punishment-free, after nearly killing his boyfriend. There laws to protect people like Blaine and him, that hadn't existed in his time, but they were only effective if they were enforced. If he backed out because of cowardice, they may as well not have made all this progress. Kurt just knew his father would tell him to put his chin up, and walk like a man, no matter what kind of abuse he had to suffer, and by gosh, that's what he intended to do.

The reporters were at their stations in front of his and Blaine's homes again, hoping to get a new angle on their case, now that it was drawing closer, but if they could endure the harassment for one more week and win the day, the reporters could publish their story far and wide. His resolve to pursue the case didn't mean he wasn't anxious about testifying about what had taken place, though. He was afraid the lawyers and reporters would take every word he and his friends said, and twist it into something ugly.

Kurt had to run a gauntlet of reporters every time he set foot out of his house, so he wore hoodies to hide his face and kept moving, no matter how loudly they shouted questions at him. Then he had to do it all over again, when he got to Blaine's house. Even Jeff and Nick were followed and photographed, when they came and went, as were Blaine's parents. Ed had almost run down a few persistent reporters that refused to budge from his sidewalk, when he went to work.

Elianna apologized to Kurt for her outburst the next day, humbly asking for his forgiveness. Blaine had explained the back-story about why they had kissed in that photo, and asked her, what was so wrong about them sharing a kiss in his own room anyway. She had to admit, he had a point. Why shouldn't they kiss each other, if they were in love? It was the magazine that made it sound sordid.

Kurt wouldn't go anywhere else, except to Blaine's house, because he didn't want to involve Mercedes in this mess too, though they talked on the phone almost every night. Time was running out fast for his lessons, so they continued to doggedly work on his studying. Kurt had now finished working his way through the course work, and was now reviewing the parts that had given him the most trouble, but Nick told him he should be fine, reminding him that no one expected a perfect score. Next Tuesday, he would either make the grade, or he would have to try to catch up through the next year. The court case would be heard two days later, starting on the Thursday morning at 9:00 am.

That weekend Nick took Mercedes out to dinner and a move. They had a good time together, and enjoyed each other's company even if there were no immediate sparks of attraction. Respect and friendship were a pretty decent basis for a relationship, even if it never grew into a torrid love affair, so they continued to date for a few more weeks until they gradually turned into good friends instead.

After one more day of random quiz questions fielded from his friends to confirm Kurt knew the material as well as he could, they declared him done. No more reviewing, and no more lessons. He would write the test the next day and now the only question was whether he would be a senior or a junior. Kurt's tutors declared that the rest of today would be a day of celebration, hanging out at Blaine's pool to enjoy the last of the summer's beautiful sunshine. Blaine was able to leave his bedroom, able to get through most days without even having to take a nap, but he still wasn't up to horseplay in the pool, so they paddled leisurely on floats and talked eagerly about returning to Dalton. No one mentioned the upcoming court case, aware of Kurt's uneasiness.

When Nick and Jeff went home, Kurt and Blaine went upstairs to his room to get dressed and Blaine invited Kurt into his arms, wanting to give him comfort. They quickly snuggled comfortably against the pillows on his bed with Kurt's cast resting on Blaine's chest, after having experimented extensively with finding comfortable positions. Blaine's hand was stroking his shoulder and Kurt felt so loved, cherished and relaxed, listening to the steady beat of his boyfriend's heart against his ear. He knew everything would be fine, as long as he had Blaine to make it all worthwhile.

After a few minutes, Kurt tipped his head up and gazed into Blaine's eyes. He smiled back, and they both felt the link between them, stronger than ever. Kurt pulled himself up and kissed Blaine, quickly moving from sweet and loving to hungry and eager. They made out for a few minutes, until Kurt found himself humping Blaine's leg and wanting more. Blaine was moaning softly, wishing he could make love to his boyfriend. His hand left Kurt's back, where he was holding him to his chest and drifted downward to the button on his jeans. He paused there, cautiously asking permission.

Kurt nodded a hesitant yes, quivering in his arms with his reaction. Blaine's mouth curved up in a pleased smile against Kurt's as he popped the button and pulled down his zipper. His hand enveloped Kurt's dick, cramped in the snug confines of his pants, with his erection quickly springing through the opening. He burrowed into his shorts to caress him, though neither of them had stopped kissing and making out. Blaine's hand felt amazing to Kurt, the exquisite sensations making him emit soft, needy sounds.

Blaine wanted more than anything to make Kurt feel incredible. He gently pumped his hand as Kurt moaned and squirmed against him. His boyfriend's breathing quickened, unable to stop himself from pushing his hips into Blaine's hand with the rhythm of his hand, until within moments Kurt knew he was going come. He stuttered in soft voice against his shoulder. "B..B.. Blaine, I..I..I'm going to…" Blaine pumped faster, whispering into his ear. "I've got you baby. Go ahead and come." Kurt's voice rose steadily higher until he groaned into his neck as he came, throbbing into Blaine's hand. Blaine gently and slowly continued until Kurt sighed deeply and let out a soft hum of satisfaction. He rolled away and met Blaine's eyes, his own so deep and blue, that Blaine lost himself in them.

Blaine leaned forward to kiss him again, content to make Kurt happy, though he was so hard with unfulfilled desire he hurt. He didn't care about himself, as long as he could hold his boyfriend.

"Thank you." Kurt whispered, still slightly stunned with pleasure, then asked "Is there something I can do for you?"

Blaine grabbed some tissues and cleaned up his hand, as he shook his head dismissively, "I just want to make you feel good. Don't worry about me. As long as we can do stuff like this, I'm happy." Blaine pulled Kurt closer, and he couldn't help feeling his cock, hard against his thigh. He wanted to return Blaine's attentions, so with a teasing smile he struggled one armed to sit up, and set about undoing the button on his pants and fought to get the zipper down.

"What are you doing? I said I was fine." Blaine protested, putting his hand over Kurt's, to stop him. He knew that Kurt was hampered by only having one functional hand, so he didn't expect anything in return. He could take care of himself when Kurt left to go home.

"Are you telling me you don't want me to give you a blow job?" Kurt asked him mischievously, the corners of his mouth turned up to make his dimples show. Blaine's stunned expression cracked Kurt up, erupting into delighted laughter. His boyfriends eyes were bugged out and he looked shocked beyond reason.

"I…I…I…would… I would _love_ a blow job. Are you sure you want to give me one?" He couldn't believe Kurt was actually offering to revisit his memories of that heady night, when they explored each other without any reservations. Kurt nodded eagerly and tugged at Blaine's pants demandingly, asking for some help to get at him. Blaine immediately lowered them to his thighs, his breathing already fast from anticipation. He consciously slowed his breathing then, because he didn't want this to end within seconds, and the way he felt, he might come as soon as Kurt's rosy lips touched him.

Kurt licked his lips in anticipation and got comfortable between Blaine's legs. Blaine couldn't see any doubt or hesitation on his face, when Kurt bent daintily to slowly sink onto him. Blaine's eyes closed in reflex as he felt the heat of his mouth on him. He whined and then he heard himself emit all kinds of embarrassing sounds as Kurt bobbed up and down, letting his tongue play around the head, apparently enjoying himself almost as much as Blaine.

Blaine tried, he really tried to hold on longer, but it had been too long and he'd dreamed so often of feeling that delicious mouth on him again. Far too soon, he knew he was going to lose his battle to hold back his orgasm. He tried to warn Kurt, aware that he wasn't a fan of come in his mouth, but he didn't stop, even when Blaine pulled on his hair. He surrendered, and then he was pulsing into Kurt's mouth. Kurt swallowed it all eagerly, apparently having lost that reservation too, until Blaine's chest was heaving as he was coming down from his high. Kurt gave him one last lick and lay on his thigh, gazing up at him lovingly. Blaine let his fingers weave into his hair and closed his eyes. He said dreamily. "Oh my god Kurt, I think I almost died. You are amazing, honey. Love you."

Kurt smiled dreamily, wondering why he had been such a wuss about just doing what he had wanted to do all along. That had felt incredible, to give Blaine that blissed out expression on his face. He could hardly wait to get rid of this cast and try some of the other things he recalled enjoying on that night so long ago.

Burt took off work the next day, to drive Kurt and Blaine to Dalton Academy for Young Men in Westerville for his testing. Holy smokes, that place was beautiful with the high ceilings, antiques and artwork and elegant woodwork, echoing a grander time. Kurt felt immediately comfortable there, almost like being able to visit home again, with the design of the building contemporary with other buildings of his time.

Blaine proudly introduced them to the headmaster, Mr. Haverly, who welcomed the Hummels, before they went through Kurt's application together. He was sympathetic to the loss of his parents and showed no disrespect for Burt, because he was a blue collar man, as opposed to the financiers and executives he normally met. Kurt seemed a polite and well balanced young man, though he had been home educated. Mr. Haverly assured them that they could accommodate Kurt, as either a junior or as a senior, depending on his testing results.

Knowing he was already accepted by the school went a long way to helping Kurt relax. The headmaster asked Blaine to give the Hummels a tour while he set up the test, and they would meet in the senior commons in half an hour. Burt and Blaine paced the hallways nervously, time passing much slower for them than it did for Kurt. The time flew for him as he wrote the exam. An hour and a half later, he emerged with a confident smile to join them, feeling he might have done quite well, because there were few questions to which he was at a loss for the answer. The headmaster said he looked forward to seeing Blaine and Kurt with all the other students the first day of class, proudly wearing the Dalton uniform. Kurt wore a broad smile on the drive home, because he was now a Dalton boy, like Blaine, Nick and Jeff. He had reached a major milestone in his acclimation to the future.

They ran the gauntlet of reporters again at home, but Burt was unphased with the constant crew of annoying paparazzi around his house, because he'd gotten a ton of free advertising out of the deal. There was a bright side to everything, he told the boys, before he left them to return to the shop again. They spent a pleasant afternoon alone in Kurt's room, reprising the previous afternoon, gaining more confidence with their renewed intimacy.

The next day the Hummels and the Anderson families had an appointment in her office with their lawyer, Miss Trang, to review their case. They went through the evening's events repeatedly and answered every question she could think of. Melissa was sure they would win this case, and asked them to think about whether they wanted to ask the judge for a period of incarceration for their attackers, or a financial settlement. Both Kurt and Blaine agreed that all they wanted was for those boys to never attack anyone else again, for any reason. Asking for money wasn't the point, though they would like their families to be reimbursed for their medical expenses.

A knock on the door interrupted their meeting. Melissa answered it and discovered Harold Warton, the lawyer for the defense. He politely asked to speak to her privately for a moment, so she excused herself briefly from her clients. He told her he knew they would lose the case, so his clients wanted to know what it would take to get Blaine and Kurt to drop the case. They had a quick discussion, and she returned to her office, with a pleased smile to announce that the case could be settled out of court, if they wanted.

It meant they wouldn't have to testify in front of a court room full of people and reporters, but it also meant their case wouldn't be heard and their attackers would avoid a criminal record, that would cripple them the rest of their lives. When they heard what Melissa suggested for their terms, they agreed immediately.

In return for dropping the charges, the two attackers would sign a pledge to reimburse their victim's families for any medical expenses, in addition to a ten thousand dollar donation to the charity of their choice. They would speak about stopping bullying and homophobia at local schools, and each do a hundred hours of volunteer work with at-risk youth, including gay and lesbians. They would have to take counselling for anger management and bullying, and agree to never use violence against anyone again, and take out their aggression only on a sports field from now on. If they failed to follow through on any of the terms, the case would be revived and they would suffer the full extent of the law, for their unprovoked attack.

They had won! Their rights had been recognized, even if it hadn't been enforced by a judge. They would never have to worry about being harassed by those two ever again and hopefully neither would anyone else. After the celebratory cheering died down, Miss Trang called a press conference to announce the outcome of the case to the reporters, with the Hummels and the Andersons in attendance.

The boys briefly answered the reporter's questions about the attack, but without going into too much detail, making it clear that their assailants had admitted that they were guilty of attacking the two boys. One reporter asked about the origin of the photo in the gossip rag and asked why they had permitted the photo to be taken. Blaine explained that it had published without their consent, taken by an acquaintance that had done it for the money. He was strongly tempted to tell them who it was, because he knew it would ruin Sebastian, and get him dismissed from Dalton.

Instead, they intended to hold it over him to force him to behave like a decent human being for the whole next year, while they attended Dalton together. Even he deserved a second chance. Burt told them he was proud of them, and who knew, maybe there was a decent human being hiding in there, that might one day appreciate their forbearance.

Kurt quickly adjusted to attending Dalton, easily fitting into the grand old school and its formal atmosphere. His crystalline voice added to the other Warbler's golden tones improved their harmonies, and got them to Regionals. He appreciated everything about his new life, and considered every day a gift, especially weekends and evenings spent with his boyfriend. They weren't allowed to behave like boyfriends at school because displays of affection were against the rules, but everyone knew they were together. They didn't have to hold hands or kiss in public, to make it clear that they were devoted to each other.

Burt began giving Kurt driving lessons that fall, and was relieved to discover that he was a slow and careful driver, so for Christmas he gave him a Camaro he had stored for years, never really having much interest in rebuilding it, until he wanted to spend more time with his son and his boyfriend. He promoted his best mechanic to assistant manager, and stepped back a bit from working ten hours a day six days a week, finally realizing he didn't want to miss any more of his life.

The boys and he rebuilt the car together over the winter and Kurt was driving it to school every day by the time he and Blaine graduated. On the weekends, Mercedes and her friends often came over to the Hummels or he and Blaine and Nick and Jeff often hung out with her McKinley friends. It was Kurt who introduced Burt to Carole Hudson, the mother of one of Mercedes' friends, and suggested he should date her. They both knew this would be Kurt's last summer at home, before he and Blaine moved away to New York to attend University, and that he would be lonely again once they left. Kurt told him he hoped he would have a family of his own, with maybe a younger brother ...and made them both laugh when he said he could name him Burt.

Whenever the rain teemed down and thunder shook the halls of Dalton or the windows of his room, Kurt would get pensive and stand in the window to look out. He could still feel the restrained power vibrating in him, but he never wanted to go out and stand on a hillside again and pray for his heart's desire. He knew he was exactly where and when he was meant to be, with the man he was meant to love


End file.
